


The Last Road

by Bootsncatz (bootsncatz)



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Blood, F/F, F/M, Gore, Guts - Freeform, Horror, Wayhaught - Freeform, Wyncedes, Wynsita, anything you'd expect in a horror movie, expect it here, mechanic!Nicole, non-binary Nicole, pulp horror, scary lakeside camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:55:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootsncatz/pseuds/Bootsncatz
Summary: It started out as a simple road trip out to the big city for Pride, but Wynonna, Nicole, Waverly, Rosita and Champ might run into trouble when they try to take a shortcut. Maybe the unearthly stories about The Last Road out of Purgatory are true, maybe it's myth. They're about to find out.~A Spooky Halloween Story~
Relationships: Rosita Bustillos/Wynonna Earp, Rosita Bustillos/Wynonna Earp/Mercedes Gardner, Waverly Earp/Champ Hardy, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Mercedes Gardner
Comments: 108
Kudos: 239





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends. Happy Spooky Season! I wanted to try and write a kind of pulp horror story. I also threw in some gender exploration in as a treat. And maybe a little bit of a love story. Thank you, Lucky, for being an awesome beta for this spoopy story.
> 
> Also I would like to reiterate that you should expect the kind of stuff in this that you would see in a typical horror movie: blood, guts, creepy animals, killing, gruesome deaths.

Chapter One

Nicole cleared her throat and tried again. 

“Hello,” she- _they_ \- said in a deliberately low voice. They wrinkled their nose and shook their head. It sounded so goofy. They cleared their throat again and tried to go a little less cartoony. “ _Hello_.”

Ugh. Did she always have to make that face- no, _they_. Dammit. 

_If you can’t remember your own pronouns, what makes you think anyone else will? Maybe it means it’s just not right._

Nicole shook their head and decided to abandon the voice thing for now. Maybe they could just develop a smoking habit again and let it happen naturally. That might be easier. 

Nic? Nicole? They repeated the two in their head, trying each one on for size. Nic shook their head. Both for now.

They looked at themself in the full length mirror, running their hand down the front of their cut off t-shirt. They turned to the side, not quite satisfied with how flat the front of their shirt was, even as they plucked at the front out of habit. Good enough.

Brown eyes glanced to their hamper where the basically brand new binder was lying. They had only put it on once and knew it would definitely take some getting used to. For now the extra tight sports bra would have to do.

Nicole felt a little dumb to be peacocking in front of the mirror like a teenager, at the age of twenty-four, but they figured that was just part of this gender confusion thing. What a treat. Although they figured it wasn’t much confusion any more, more like gender _coping_. They hadn’t told anyone yet and were mostly using their pronouns in their moments alone. 

They were just worried about telling anyone yet. They knew Wynonna would be chill with it, but even the idea of telling their best friend was terrifying. If they kept it to themselves, they didn’t have to worry about people disappointing them and being less than supportive. Still, every day that they got close to telling Wynonna, every time they bit their tongue or just forced a grin through any ‘lady’ comments, it got a little bit harder. Maybe today was the day.

There was a loud tinny honk outside their window and Nicole took one last look at themself in the mirror before going to look outside. 

Wynonna waved from the window of a beat up VW Bus. It was an ugly burnt orange color, the paint almost perfectly matching with the rust all over the dings and scratches. Nic could smell the oil leaking from their second story window.

“What the hell is that?” Nic called.

Wynonna grinned. “It’s our ride to the Big City Pride Festival, dumbass!” 

Nic raised an eyebrow at her. “Can it even get us there?”

As if on cue, the car made a weird sound and visibly shuddered. Wynonna cringed.

“It will if you work your lesbian magic on it.” Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows. 

“It’s my day off!” Nic complained. “I just got all the oil out of my nails from work yesterday.”

Nicole’s job at the auto shop was good, steady. They enjoyed the work and the owner had hinted that he was interested in Nic taking over once he retired, so they knew there was a future in it. 

“Come on, Nic! I brought booze and drugs!” Wynonna cajoled. 

Nic’s heart leapt in their throat when Waverly poked her head across the front of Wynonna and out the window to smile up at them. “And me!”

It felt like their heart was doing somersaults in their chest. Flip flopping and flailing and generally making Nicole feel like they were having a heart attack. They felt their cheeks heat just at the sight of Waverly’s smile, and cursed themselves.

Wynonna smirked and wiggled her eyebrows at Nicole.

Nicole had had a crush on Waverly for about a year now, and unfortunately, Wynonna knew. They had known Waverly in high school, of course, but she was just Wynonna’s younger sister back then. But when she came back from college all… _grown_ , well Nicole was a lot of things, but they weren’t blind. Or stupid. Waverly was so smart and beautiful and everything Nicole had always admired in women. So yeah, Nic definitely had a big gay crush on her.

And Nicole couldn’t hide anything from their best friend, so of course Wynonna knew. Well, most things. Nicole ran a hand unconsciously over their flattened chest.

“Fine, I’ll be down,” Nic smiled, intentionally lowering their voice. It cracked a little and she- _they_ frowned, blushing further. They cleared their throat and nodded awkwardly instead. They ducked back into the bedroom and quickly spritzed on some cologne. As they walked out of the door, they grabbed a black baseball cap and put it on backwards. They went down to their little section of garage where Wynonna had already pulled the van in. Nicole had a small stash of tools in the corner that would have to do for now.

The door to the van opened and Wynonna slid out of it, pushing sunglasses up over her eyes and sporting a smug grin.

“Ain’t she a beaut?” Wynonna said, as she kicked the back tire. 

“She’s somethin’,” Nicole said, as they got closer. 

Waverly walked around the car and Nicole felt their breath catch. She was wearing high waisted shorts and a simple tank top with her dark honey colored hair cascading down her shoulders in waves, and Nicole was sure they’d never seen a more beautiful woman in their life. Waverly beamed at them and Nicole was powerless just to smile back.

“Hey,” Nicole said, kicking themselves with how stupid that sounded. Ever since Waverly got back together with _Champ_ Nicole didn’t see her as much as they had gotten used to for a little bit. Whatever, Champ was fine. Just annoying as shit. And definitely in the way of Nicole’s big gay crush.

“Hey.” Waverly’s smile widened and she pushed some hair over her ear. Nicole watched the movement of her fingers with rapt attention, especially the way her fingers lingered along her jaw for the moment. 

“How are you?” Nicole said dumbly. 

Wynonna snorted and punched Nic’s shoulder. “Why are you talking like a grandpa?”

“I just asked how she was,” Nicole hissed, punching Wynonna’s shoulder back.

“Yeah, it’s weird, you just saw her yesterday, dweeb,” Wynonna said.

“I’m fine, thank you, Nicole,” Waverly said pointedly, shooting Wynonna a look.

Yes, Nicole had seen her yesterday. But she was with her stupid boyfriend and Nicole felt like a fork was being twisted in their stomach the entire time. They smiled over at Waverly and stuffed their hands into the back pockets of their jeans. Waverly gave them a friendly wink and Nicole felt their heart stop for a minute. 

“I um, brought some paint so we can at least make this look a little prettier,” Waverly said, running her hand over the side of the car. 

“And I brought the booze,” Wynonna pushed Nicole out of the way and threw open the side sliding door. There were a couple of pizza boxes and a case of beer inside.

“Sweet.” Nicole reached for a beer but Wynonna batted their hand away. 

“That’s payment for after I know if you can fix the car or not,” Wynonna said.

“Fine,” Nicole said. They went to the back of the car where the engine was and opened the little hatch. They hadn’t done too much work on old cars like this, but in their downtime at work they liked to watch videos on repairing classic cars. Nicole held out their hand blindly as they bent over to get a better look. “Hand me a rag, please.”

Wynonna threw a rag in their direction and Nicole caught it, going to work on digging through the guts of the car. They stuffed the rag in their back pocket and stood up, hands on their hips. 

“Good news, I can totally fix this today,” Nicole said. “Bad news, it’s still going to be a piece of shit.”

Wynonna acted scandalized. “Don’t say that about our baby, Haught. Our first born.”

“Yeah? How does Rosita feel about us having a child together?” Nicole quirked an eyebrow at her.

At least Wynonna blushed a little. “She knows our bro love runs deep.”

Nicole snorted and crossed their arms. “Can I have that beer now? I don’t work for free.”

Wynonna handed them a beer and Nicole used the bottle opener they kept on their carabiner attached to a belt loop, and handed it to Waverly.

“Oh, thanks,” Waverly beamed.

Wynonna scoffed and Nicole grabbed another beer and a piece of pizza, taking a swig of their beer. Unfortunately, Waverly took a drink of her beer at the same time, head tipping back and long neck flexing as she swallowed. Nicole blushed deeply and coughed, spitting half the beer back into the bottle. Their eyes stung as she sputtered, wiping their arm across her mouth to hide the cough. 

With a sharp hit to Nicole’s back, Wynonna stepped in front of Nicole with wide, almost crazy eyes.

“Get your shit together, Haught,” she hissed. “You’re a mess. I’m embarrassed to be your friend. And I’m especially embarrassed that you’re crushing on my sister.”

Nic shook their head, still sputtering, “What?”

Wynonna whispered, “You’re so _obvious_.”

With a scowl, Nicole made a show of taking another slow sip of their beer and walked around Wynonna towards the back of the car. They quickly finished their pizza and wiped their hands on the rag in the back of their pants before getting to work on the car.

Really it just needed a tuneup to get them to the big city, nothing too crazy. 

Wynonna turned on some music and Nic started to work. When they were under the car undoing the nut at the bottom of the oil pan, they saw Waverly’s shoes stop next to them. Waverly’s head came into view as she practically bent in half to look under the car. 

“How’s it going?” Waverly asked.

“Fine,” Nicole smiled and couldn’t help but flirt. “Better now.”

Waverly blushed and Nicole wheeled themselves out from under the car, watching as Waverly stood back up and her shoes followed them. When Nicole was out from under the car, they sat up on their wheeled board, knees bent and arms resting over them with their wrench in hand. Waverly smiled down at her and Nicole noticed a little smudge of paint on her cheek.

“You got some paint,” Nicole said with a small chuckle, gesturing to their own cheek.

Waverly just smiled. “And you’ve got some dirt-” She pointed to several spots on their own face and Nicole blushed. They smiled widely, hoping their dimples would distract from the blush. 

“I like it. Part of a new look I’m trying,” Nicole winked, and Waverly giggled, covering her mouth to hide the action. It certainly was a stroke to Nicole’s ego. They licked their lips and set the wrench to the side, taking one last look at the oil draining from the engine before standing up. “Can I see what you painted so far?”

“Yeah!” Waverly bounced happily, looking back over at the side of the van. Nicole stood up and wiped their hands off on the rag as they stood next to Waverly. On the side of the van was a brightly colored rainbow arched over the doors. 

“It’s not much,” Waverly said shyly, crossing her arms.

“It’s great,” Nicole said, watching the smile bloom on Waverly’s face. “This heap already looks ten times better.”

The comfortable silence settled over them for a moment and Nicole felt trapped in Waverly’s eyes. She was just so _pretty_ and smart and - totally unavailable. It was something they had to keep reminding themselves of. Still, it didn’t stop them from dreaming about holding Waverly’s hand or kissing her. Nicole hadn’t thought that Waverly would be going with them to the Big City for Pride weekend, not after Champ put up a fuss with Waverly saying he wanted to go to the beach that weekend instead.

“I’m glad you’re going with us,” Nicole said softly. “Champ finally decided he didn’t care?”

Waverly rolled her eyes but tried to play it off with a smile. “I told him I would go with or without him.”

_“Oh.”_

“So now he’s...going with us,” Waverly muttered a little bashfully. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s not rude.”

“Oh.”

“Just break up with him already,” Wynonna said, voice monotone, from where she was sitting on a foldup chair in the corner, nose buried in her phone. Nicole’s eyes darted over to Waverly whose cheeks were still pink as she threw a look at Wynonna. Suddenly, Wynonna jumped up, eyes on the street just as Rosita pulled up in her own car. “Now it’s a party.”

Nicole rolled their eyes, Waverly and them sharing a look as Wynonna practically skipped over to her girlfriend. She pretended not to be soft, but she absolutely was.

“What are you going to paint on the other side of the van?” Nicole asked, looking away from where it looked like Wynonna was shoving her tongue down Rosita’s throat. 

“Actually, I was hoping you would still have those spray paints Wynonna hid here after the Stephanie Jones incident,” Waverly clasped her hands in front of her face excitedly, biting her knuckle as a hopeful smile lit her lips.

Nic would have told Waverly they still had them even if they didn’t. “Yeah, they’re up in my apartment. Want me to go get them?”

“Oh, I’ll go,” Waverly said. “If you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead, they’re in the kitchen.”

“Kitchen?” Waverly raised a dubious eyebrow.

Nicole shrugged and rubbed the back of their neck. “Yeah, I’m not sure why either.”

Waverly just laughed and bounced over to Rosita, grabbing Rosita’s hand and dragging her away from Wynonna and up to the apartment with her. Nicole watched her go, their eyes admittedly falling below Waverly’s waist as she walked away until she turned the corner. When Nicole came back from their daydreaming, their eyes snapped up to Wynonna who was giving them a knowing smirk.

“What?” Nicole said, pretending to be dumb.

“You’re being a real idiot around Waves,” Wynonna said, poking Nicole in the middle of their chest. 

Nicole hit her hand away. “No I’m not. I’m being respectful.”

“You’re being a dweeb.”

Nicole rolled their eyes and hoped Wynonna didn’t see them blush. “I just- She’s in a relationship.”

“Barely,” Wynonna scoffed. “I swear she’s one bad fart joke away from breaking up with him.”

“Great. Then when she’s broken up with him maybe I’ll ask her out,” Nicole said, not wanting to get their hopes up. Wynonna had said Waverly was close to breaking up with Champ before but it was never true. Champ would do something sweet and Waverly took him back.

“You just need to make a move-”

“I’m not making a move on someone who is taken,” Nicole said. They grabbed another slice of the now cold pizza, just looking for something to do with their hands. Wynonna had given them this pep talk before. Only the first time Nicole took her advice, showing up at the Homestead with a bouquet of flowers for Waverly only to have Champ pull up after her. Nicole had just shoved the flowers in the back of their car and pretended they were there to just see Wynonna.

“Fine, fucking Prince Valiant over here,” Wynonna muttered to herself, taking a long swig of her beer. They both sat in the open door of the van, Nic chewing their pizza slowly. They swallowed and it went down roughly, throat constricting from nerves. They took another swig of beer to wash it down.

Nicole fidgeted for a moment, their truth bubbling in their chest and expanding, making their chest hurt. They chewed the inside of their cheek and took another bite of their pizza, suddenly feeling sick. Maybe it was a now or never situation. And Nicole would like to go to some non-binary parties or events at Pride this weekend without having to hide from Wynonna to do it. It just made sense to tell her. So. Nicole took a deep breath. 

“Wynonna, I wanna tell you something.”

Blue eyes widened as they looked at Nicole, trepidation and fear behind them. “What? Are you straight or something?”

Nicole snorted, some of the tension leaving. “No-”

“It _was_ you that ruined my Hanson t-shirt?”

“No!” Nicole shot Wynonna a look and just blurted. “I’m non-binary.” Wynonna blinked at them and Nicole’s panic and dread made their stomach feel heavy. “I use they/them pronouns.”

Wynonna blinked at them for a moment before smiling. “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Nicole said, still bracing for the fallout. “I wanted to tell you sooner but I was-”

Nicole shook their head and took a big bite of pizza to keep themselves from blabbering even more. They were having a hard time reading Wynonna, who just leaned back and pulled a joint Nicole hadn’t seen before out from behind her ear. Putting it to her lips, Wynonna flicked on her lighter. Nicole twitched as the big flame from the butane lighter flared up. A stupid fear, but they clenched their jaw just the same until Wynonna was finished lighting the joint and passed it over to Nicole.

Nicole looked over at Wynonna and back at the joint, some of the tension leaving. 

“Who else knows?” Wynonna asked.

Nicole chuckled darkly. “No one.”

Wynonna smirked. “Good, because if I found out I wasn’t the first person you told I would have been very upset.”

“Just because _one_ time-”

“You _lied_ to me!”

“Shae didn’t want me to tell anyone!”

“Yeah yeah.”

“That was high school, Nonna, I think we can be over that now.”

“Fine,” Wynonna stuck her tongue out at Nicole jokingly. “How long have you known?”

Nicole was worried about these questions. Wynonna, tired of holding the joint out to Nicole, took her own long drag.

“Not long, I mean, I’m not sure. I’ve always felt different. You know? After I came out it was fine for a while because I think I was just so happy to be _free_. So I didn’t realize until recently that things still didn’t quite feel right in my own body. But I didn’t decide that I wanted to change my pronouns until a few months ago.”

“Well, not to get sappy but, thank you for trusting me and telling me or whatever,” Wynonna said, hitting Nicole’s elbow with her own and passing the joint back.

“You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be upset?” Wynonna frowned. “I’ll be upset if you don’t take a hit-”

“Fine fine,” Nic took the joint and took a long drag. The smoke filled their lungs and the let it out slowly, watching the smoke slowly curl in front of their face and dissipate. They could feel it in their throat more than anything, but passed the joint back to Wynonna.

“So you have a name you want me to use? Nic? Haught? Stud?” 

Nicole’s head practically jerked to look at Wynonna, only to see her wiggling her eyebrows at them. Rolling their eyes, Nicole couldn’t keep the quirk of their lips down. 

“Just Nicole is fine. Nic might be...better,” Nicole tilted their head in thought. “Unclear.”

“Well, just let me know if that changes,” Wynonna said. “You know you can tell me anything. Right?”

“Yeah yeah,” Nicole said, snatching the joint back and taking another long drag, head feeling light. “Just don’t tell Waves yet.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I’ll try to go back and forth with your pronouns, depending on company,” Wynonna said. “It’s gonna take me a hot second anyways. Just punch my arm when I get them wrong.”

Nic laughed and gave Wynonna back the joint, an easy smile on their face. They felt lighter. Maybe it was the confession, maybe it was the weed, but either way, Nicole felt happier than they had in a long time. 

When Waverly and Rosita came back down into the garage, Nicole let out a small sigh. It was easy to get distracted with Waverly around. The carefree way she would toss her head back when she laughed, and how her eyes sparkled when she was talking about something that interested her. It got Nicole every time. They didn’t realize they were staring until hazel eyes turned on her and the corners of Waverly’s eyes crinkled in a wider smile. Nicole was sure all the air had been sucked out of the room and it was just the two of them. Until Wynonna pinched their side.

“Ow!”

“Dude. You’re drooling,” Wynonna snorted then looked at Nicole, lowering her voice. “Is ‘dude’ still okay?”

“Yeah. Feels gender neutral,” Nicole laughed.

“Alright, the weed made me horny,” Wynonna said, putting out the joint on the ground. “I’m gonna go makeout with Rosita in her car while you finish this.”

Nicole rolled their eyes. “Great. I’ll just do all the work.”

“Thanks for understanding,” Wynonna said, as she stood up from the van and walked over to Rosita. She put her hands on Rosita’s hips while she was mid sentence with Waverly and kissed her. Waverly threw an exasperated look in Nicole’s direction and they shrugged. 

Nicole pulled a bag of oil containers Wynonna had brought with her close so they could finish the oil change. They picked it up and walked back over to the back of the car where the oil had finally finished draining. They set the oil aside and sat back on their wheeled board, scooting back under the car. They realized they didn’t have their wrench and sighed in exasperation. 

“Nicole,” Waverly said, soft hand landing on Nicole’s shin. Nic’s heart spiked in gay panic, brain shooting panicked thoughts out at a hundred miles an hour. Waverly was _touching_ their bare skin. Without thinking, Nicole sat straight up and banged their head painfully on the underside of the car.

“Ow! Fuck!” Nicole cursed, and they felt themselves being pulled by the ankle out from under the car. They groaned, hand over the growing bump on their forehead and vision blurry as they looked up. Waverly was leaning over them, eyes worried and apologetic.

“You forgot your wrench?” Waverly said, crouched and holding out the tool for them.

“Thanks,” Nicole gritted out with an embarrassed smile. 

“Here, let me see,” Waverly said, tapping Nicole’s knee and gesturing for them to sit up. Nicole slowly sat up and Waverly tugged their hand away from their forehead, fingers lingering on their wrist for a few moments and making their heart beat even faster. Waverly hissed and Nicole noticed the sticky sensation of blood on their hand. 

“Tell me, doc, is it bad?” Nicole joked.

Waverly gave them a sympathetic smile. “It’s just a little cut.”

“Great,” Nicole said, grabbing the wrench. “Better get back to it then.”

They went to lie back down, just wanting to get out of this embarrassing situation, but Waverly stopped them again.

“Maybe I should put a bandaid on it,” Waverly said. “Hold on.”

Waverly jumped up and went back into the car to rummage for something, coming back a few moments later with a little pouch. She sat cross legged in front of Nicole as she opened it and scooted a little closer to Nicole. Their thighs brushed together at the closeness, Nic’s heart fluttered stupidly in their chest, and they tucked some hair behind their ear to hide the blush. Waverly ripped open a little packet and the smell of alcohol made Nicole wrinkle their nose. They jerked away instinctively when Waverly approached the cut with the wipe. Waverly gave them a look.

“Don’t be a baby,” she teased gently. 

Nicole looked at the wipe dubiously. “I just wasn’t expecting it. You surprised me.”

“Sure,” Waverly winked at them and gave them a look. Nicole just smiled, but their smile dropped in shock when Waverly pinched their chin between her finger and thumb, keeping their head in place before lightly dabbing the alcohol over their cut. 

It might have stung but Nicole’s heart was thudding out of their chest with how close Waverly was and pain was the furthest thing from their mind. With each steady breath, they could smell Waverly’s perfume and it made them dizzy. Nicole didn’t know where to look, their eyes were naturally drawn to the strong line of Waverly’s jaw and up to concentrating hazel eyes. They flickered down to look at brown and Nicole’s heart stopped, especially when Waverly smiled.

“Almost done,” Waverly said softly. 

Nicole just hummed, just a little too stoned to not stare at Waverly lips, especially with how her pink tongue was just poking out between her teeth. They could feel Waverly’s breath on their face and this whole situation really did nothing for Nicole’s pining heart. they already knew this moment would keep them up at night as they imagined all the ways this could have gone if they had just been a little bit braver.

“There,” Waverly said, face still close as her eyes flickered down to Nicole’s face.

“Thanks,” Nicole smiled. “Feels better already.” 

“Stop hitting your head,” Waverly said. Nicole swore they saw Waverly’s eyes dart down to their lips for a moment before her face fell and she pulled back a little, clearing her throat. “Wanna paint something on the car?”

“Sure,” Nic said, a little disappointed as Waverly pulled away. They shouldn’t be dumb, Waverly was with Champ. No way Waverly felt the same. Hands on their knees, Nicole stood up and followed Waverly to the other side of the car. Waverly smiled and handed them a can of red spray paint and Nicole’s fingers grazed hers as they took the can. They shook it for a moment before shrugging and spraying a lopsided heart in the top corner of the van. 

“Cute,” Waverly said. 

“Eh, it’s not bad. Your rainbow is better,” Nicole said.

“Well, it _is_ an entire rainbow,” Waverly teased with a wink.

Nicole’s stomach ached because they didn’t know how they were going to be spending an entire weekend with Waverly and her _boyfriend_. It was hard enough just to be this close to her, yet somehow impossible to avoid. Being so close to the heat of their desires without being able to touch was an intoxicating sort of anguish, they supposed. 

Waverly went back around to the other side of the car as Wynonna and Rosita emerged. Nic realized they were thoroughly fucked.

***

Nicole was adjusting their duffle bag on their shoulder as they came down from their apartment, when they spotted Wynonna’s van rolling down the street. Thankfully it sounded like it was running a little smoother. They had thought ahead to bring a small roll of tools with them just in case something happened. 

Of course Nic’s eyes landed on Waverly sitting in the passenger seat, Rosita in the middle and Wynonna driving. Nicole couldn’t stop the smile their heart tugged onto their lips as soon as Waverly smiled and waved at them. The morning light seemed to hit her honey hair just right to cast a halo over her head. Or maybe Nicole’s lovesick heart was making them hallucinate.

As Wynonna stopped the van in front of Nicole’s, Waverly held a coffee for them out the window. 

“We got you your usual,” Waverly said.

Nicole smiled and took the coffee, thinking how Waverly knew their coffee order and maybe that was a good sign. But then they slid open the side door of the van and that small kernel of hope they had allowed themselves deflated. Champ sat against the side of the van, nose in his phone that was blazing something loud and bone grating. 

“Wassup, lesbro,” he said, only half interested as he barely looked up from his phone. There wasn’t an ounce of malice in his voice but just his dumb face made everything sound like a slur.

“Fine, Champ,” Nicole said as evenly as possible, shutting the door behind them and sitting opposite of Champ with their duffle next to them. 

Champ snorted at something on his phone and Nic rolled her - _their_ \- eyes. It was going to be a long drive.

Thankfully, Wynonna pumped the music as loud as the tiny car speakers would allow. That way Nicole didn’t have to keep up any sort of fake conversation with Champ. The back of the van was a rough ride to say the least. Nicole stuffed one of the many blankets Wynonna had put in the backseat under their ass but it was still sore from all the bumps. Every time there was a hard jump, Waverly would turn around and give Nic an apologetic smile which made Nicole’s heart flutter every time. 

They stuck their nose in their phone instead and tried to keep busy. They didn’t look up again until they felt the car drift to a stop and Wynonna pull over. Poking their head up to look out the window, they saw that they had stopped in front of the last gas station on the edge of the Ghost River Forest. 

Nicole always hated stopping there. It was run down and gross and the Slushie machine _never_ worked. They cursed themself for not noticing that Wynonna had chosen that route.

It sat on an empty lot just barely off of the highway, old rusted sign beckoning in customers with the dark interchangeable letters on the sign that, rumor had it, hadn’t been changed since the gas station got the sign in the fifties. It was originally set up as a horse watering stop back in the 1800s, soon becoming a waystation for criminals and hooligans alike. 

The sign read, “Last rest stop in Purgatory! Last gas and food for miles!”

There were only four old gas pumps set up in the front, rusted from age and use. The old awning that jutted out from the small station had holes rusted into the top, sunlight streaming through and landing on the hot pavement below. The building facade was faded and dingy, just a faint memory of the bright white with red trim that used to be a beacon at the end of the road. 

It got the nickname Last Road for being the Last Road out of Purgatory. And straight to hell some might say. It used to be the only road out of Purgatory that led to the Big City, and that made it practically catnip to the seedy underbelly of the town’s fringes.

Thieves used to hide out in the thick forest on the edges, waiting for carriages and wagons to come through so they could ambush them. It had become typical to see overturned carriages on the edges of the road, bodies strewn about. Though most of the time the thieves would just dump the bodies in the forest and they’d never be found again. If they even bothered to try and cover their tracks. 

And even as carriages gave way to automobiles, not much changed. 

Accidents, disappearances, armed robbery. If it was something you worried about while driving, it had happened on the road out of Purgatory. 

In the nineties the road became damaged and was closed for safety reasons. That, and no one wanted to shell out the money to repair a road no one particularly liked taking. It forced the city to build a road going around the forest, and little convenience stores and gas stations popped up along the sides of the newer road. 

All the other highways seemed to avoid the forest altogether, like some kind of force was keeping them away. It was always assumed that the road builders didn’t want to hack through the forest and would rather go around it instead. But whatever the reason, it easily took three times as long to go around. 

A handful of years later a substantial amount of mysterious funding materialized, and The Last Road Out of Purgatory was opened back up again. 

Of course as time went on, the warnings about the Last Road had been dismissed as town myth and old wive’s tales. Soon people had no problem taking the road through the forest because of how much faster it was. Well, some people. Nic started realizing why most people avoided it after their first experience trying to take The Last Road.

Inexplicably, they hated the forest. Not all of them, just this one in particular. As soon as they had breached the perimeter of the forest the goosebumps rose over their skin, a sense of dread settling at the base of their spine. At first Nicole thought they had just eaten something weird but they could only take a few minutes before they had to turn the car around. Nicole knew better than to not listen to their gut. 

They had a feeling they wouldn’t have that luxury today. 

“Alright, everyone,” Wynonna said as she pulled up to a gas pump and turned off the car. “Piss and get snacks before The Last Road. I’m not pulling over in that damn forest.”

Nicole’s stomach twisted. 

“We could just go around,” Waverly suggested. 

Champ burped and threw the side door open, letting it bump into Nicole’s arm as he jumped out. They threw him a look, but just listened to the sisters’ conversation. 

“Going around is for pussies, Waves,” Wynonna scoffed. 

Nic rolled their eyes. “Pussies are-“

“Yes, yes, pussies are ‘strong and resilient and beautiful and should never be used as a derogatory term’. I remember, Haught! Pussy expert over here,” Wynonna said, affection just barely breaching her tone. 

Nicole, never missing an opportunity to gloat, smiled as they folded their arms on the back of the bench seat where Wynonna had slid from the car, chin on their arms. 

“I never asked for that name, it was just unanimously decided that should be my title,” they said. Waverly stifled a laugh and Nicole turned to look at her, smirk widening. 

“I get it, you’re good with girls,” Wynonna leaned in and flicked Nic’s ear. “Now go get me an energy drink while I fill up.”

“Ow,” Nicole looked back at Wynonna with a frown. “You suck, Wynonna.”

“One of my many skills,” she winked. “Now come on.” Wynonna shut the drivers door and Waverly slid out with Rosita following. Nicole sighed as they slid out of the car. They heard Waverly still bothering Wynonna.

“Come on, let’s just go around,” Waverly said. “No one likes going through the forest anyways.”

Nicole breathed out a sigh of relief and they walked over towards the station. There were two cheap aluminum lawn chairs with discolored vinyl strips across them resting in front of the store, the area around them littered with cigarette butts and empty bullet shells. Nicole frowned and looked up, catching the eye of the attendant through the dirty glass of the station. 

He was tall, skin pale and blotchy like his face hadn’t been washed in days. His eyes looked yellow and he sneered, showing his teeth were too. Nicole frowned, somewhat transfixed on him until a horn honking made them jump. Their heart stopped and they clutched at it over their shirt as they took a sharp breath, knees bumping painfully into a bumper. Their hand came down to slap the top of the hood and their eyes met another furious set. 

“What the _fuck_ , Tucker?” Nicole growled. They kicked the bumper of the expensive black car and flipped him off. Of all the places to run into Purgatory’s biggest douche—

A hand smacked Tucker in the side of the head before he could respond and Nicole noticed Mercedes for the first time. Beth sat in the back seat looking both bored and horrified

“Sorry, Nic!” Mercedes yelled. 

Nicole brushed their aching knees and tried to walk away with _some_ dignity. They were so peeved that the vague stench of BO hanging in the air hadn’t quite hit their senses yet. They even forgot about the creeper behind the register and just went for the energy drinks instead. 

Tucker was always such an ass. Typical asshole who went out of his way just to be a terrible person.

Nicole sucked on their teeth in irritation and just grabbed things randomly out of the fridge. They turned to go towards the register when they almost ran into Waverly.

“Oh, sorry,” Nicole said, giving themself a moment to breathe and shake it off. They hated when they let idiots get under their skin. They just had to let it go.

“Don’t worry. Are you okay?” Waverly said, hand rubbing their bicep. Nicole swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling a hell of a lot better.

“Yeah. I think I made a little dent in his car. So I’m happy,” Nicole said.

Waverly’s eyes looked over their face one more time until she was satisfied and focused on the drinks in Nicole’s arms instead. “Diet Mountain Dew?”

Nicole looked down at the fluorescent green drink Waverly was pointing at. “Yeah, that was a mistake.”

Waverly laughed and picked the abomination out of the pile. “No one in their right mind would drink this.”

Champ came up behind Waverly and Nicole somehow kept their face straight. He wrapped his arms around her waist and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Waverly gave Nicole an apologetic look and Champ grabbed the Diet Mountain Dew from Waverly’s hand. “Oh, sweet. It’s my cheat day.”

Nicole caught Waverly’s eyes and a laugh bubbled up in their throat. When Champ cracked the lid off the top and chugged the bright liquid, Nicole snorted and Waverly followed quickly after. They both dissolved into giggles but Champ didn’t seem to notice. Nic quickly slipped past the couple and went to pay for the drinks. They took a deep breath, mentally preparing themselves for a ‘ma’am’ or ‘girl’ from the employee. It was always a sort of mental gymnastics when they were misgendered. Would Nic bother correcting? Make an awkward situation even more awkward? Or would they just dwell in their own uncomfortable feelings and think about this moment all day, imagining what would have happened if they did correct the employee. When they got to the cashier, Nic just paid without looking at the creepy employee, save for a polite smile back at him as they left. Thankfully they didn’t acknowledge them and, really, that was preferred.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Nicole shook their head and walked over to where Wynonna and Rosita were leaning against the VW Bus and talking to Mercedes and Beth. Nicole resisted the urge to give a good swift kick to Tucker’s car again, but kept walking past. There was no sign of him, but knowing that slimy little motherfucker he’d pop up out of nowhere right as they kicked it.

Nicole walked up just as Mercedes was running her fingers up Wynonna’s arm. Wynonna smirked and laced her fingers with Rosita’s.

“I’m just saying, if you give us a ride to the Big City, I can make it a good time. For _both_ of you,” Mercedes’ eyes flickered over to Rosita, whose eyebrow went straight into her hairline. She and Wynonna looked at each other and Nicole wrinkled their nose. They felt like they’d walked in on something private.

Rosita and Wynonna looked at each other, something silent passing between them, and they both smirked at each other before Wynonna turned back to Mercedes. 

“I think that’s something we can work with,” she said, eyes darting down Mercedes’ body. 

“Me and Beth?” Mercedes pointed to Beth who frowned.

“I’m not involved with your perverted shenanigans,” Beth hissed. Her eyes caught Nicole’s and she softened a bit with a smile. “Not with those two anyways.”

Nicole blushed and looked up at Wynonna who just wiggled her eyes at Nic.

“Yeah, we got more than enough room,” Wynonna said.

“Great,” Mercedes winked at Wynonna and turned around, face turning sour as she shouted towards the car. “Tucker! We’re ditching you, dough face.”

“I heard,” he said as he appeared around the back of the van.

Nicole sneered at him.

“How long have you been there, freak,” Mercedes scoffed. “We’re getting our own ride to the city.”

“I’m supposed to drive you,” Tucker said firmly. He turned his eyes to the rest of the group. “That’s part of your punishment.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Can you believe my dead parents wrote a clause into their will that if Beth and I wrecked more than two cars we weren’t allowed to use our money to buy any more? What a couple of deadbeats.”

“I’ll drive you,” Tucker said. “Mother wouldn’t like you fraternizing with these abominations.”

Nicole felt their anger flair and they took a step towards Tucker who just stared them down. 

“What do you mean by that?” Nicole said, crossing their arms over their chest. 

Tucker’s lips scrunched together and a mask of anger came over his face. “Are you dumb too, dyke?”

Nicole clenched their fists, nails digging into the palm of their hand. They always told themselves people like this weren’t worth their anger, but damn if they didn't want to punch his lights out.

“Don’t be such a turd waffle, Tucker,” Waverly said as she walked up, Champ close on her heels. 

Tucker looked over her short shorts and tank top with a sneer. “Waverly. Didn’t realize you still dressed like _that_.”

“Not another word,” Nicole said, stepping in front of Waverly without thinking about it. Champ looked up from his phone with new interest, seemingly finally catching up to the conversation.

“Just get in your car and go,” Mercedes said, voice bored. “No one here is going to fuck you, okay? But we might beat you up.”

Tucker looked like he sucked on a lemon. “I’m telling-”

“Who?” Mercedes frowned. “Mommy and Daddy are dead. Beth and I are going to the Pride Festival and you’re going home to jack off into some socks to tv evangelicals. Okay? Win win.”

Tucker looked back over at Waverly. “They have some interesting things to say about _sluts_.”

Champ, finally catching on, stepped forward and pushed Tucker back so he went sprawling onto the ground. Wynonna, Mercedes and Beth all snickered as his face turned red and he scrambled back to his feet.

“You’re going to pay for that, Hardy.”

“Back off my girlfriend, bro,” Champ said, getting in Tucker’s face. Their chests bumped and even if Nicole couldn’t stand Champ, they would let him be the one to get in the fight here.

“Champ,” Waverly said, tugging on the back of his shirt. “No more. He’s not worth it.”

Admittedly, Nicole did feel jealous when Waverly held Champ’s arm to her chest and kissed his shoulder lightly. Rolling their eyes, Nicole looked back at Tucker who looked redder than a tomato.

“You’ll regret this,” he said again before stomping back off to his car. Revving the engine, he peeled out of the gas station obnoxiously, smoke rising up from the back of his tires as they spun on the pavement and back towards Purgatory.

“What a fucking tool,” Rosita mumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Beth rolled her eyes.

“Alright. Well now that _that’s_ done,” Wynonna stretched her arms over her head. “Let’s go. If we leave now we can be in the Big City by ten.”

Nicole did a quick calculation in their head and felt the dread settle in their stomach again.

“We’re going through the forest?”

“Duh,” Wynonna said.

Waverly sighed. “I don’t want to go through the forest either.”

“Aw, it’s okay, babe,” Champ said as he gathered Waverly in his arms and dropped sloppy kisses all over her face. Nic swore they saw a strand of spit pulling away between his lips and her cheek. Waverly had a small frown on her face but Champ just talked against her cheek. “I’ll protect you ladies in the forest.” Nicole naturally cringed at the gendered term and Champ let go of Waverly just to flex his biceps with an oily grin. “You little girls need a big strong man like me to keep you safe. Good thing I came along, right, babe? Babe. Babe. Babe.”

Waverly had her hand over her face, a hint of a blush tinting her cheeks as she shook her head.

“Just quit while you're ahead, Chump,” Wynonna said, slapping Champ’s stomach and making him grunt in surprise. “Okay, so, forest road? Everyone for the forest road, raise your hand.”

Wynonna’s hand shot in the air, Rosita, Beth, Mercedes and Champ’s following soon after. Waverly and Nicole looked at each other. Waverly looked resigned and Nicole just shrugged, finally raising their hand. There was instant regret as soon as Waverly raised her hand and Wynonna fist pumped in triumph. 

“Awesome.” Wynonna tossed the car keys to Nicole who caught them against their chest. “You drive, Haught. Anyone who isn’t me, Rosita or Mercedes, sit in the front.”

“There’s no room!” Nicole complained as Rosita and Mercedes got into the back of the van. 

“Sure there is, Haught,” Wynonna put her arm over Nicole’s shoulders. “Come on. I gotta get at that macaroni in the pot. If you know what I mean.”

“It would have been less explicit if you just said WAP,” Nicole gagged, wrinkling their nose. 

“Turn on the loud music,” Wynonna winked before climbing into the back and closing the door. Nicole sighed and looked over at the Last Road disappearing into the thick forest, stomach already turning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Here we are again with another spooky chapter of The Last Road. This chapter we have more of Nic's gender coping, some scary trees, jealous Waverly and...maybe some death. As always, thank you to Lucky for being an awesome beta and editing this shit literally hours before I post.

Nicole slid into the VW Bus, the old vinyl of the seats creaking as they got settled behind the wheel. Wynonna had already somehow hung a blanket behind the front seat so that it blocked the back from view and she could do whatever depraved thing she was hoping for in the back of the van with Rosita and Mercedes. Beth immediately scrambled into the other side of the car and pressed herself up against Nicole’s side with a smile. 

Smiling politely, Nicole looked at Beth for a moment before looking back up to where Waverly was getting into the car. 

“Oh, Beth,” Waverly said, still standing outside. “Why don’t I sit next to Nicole and you can sit by the door? There’s more room.”

“I’m fine,” Beth said, not even moving from her seat. “Thanks though.”

“Come on, babe, get in,” Champ grunted. 

Waverly gave Beth a stiff smile as she got into the car. Once Champ got in, he just squished Waverly and Beth over more, effectively pressing Beth hard into Nicole’s side. Nicole grumbled and twisted in their seat.

“Hey!” they hissed, cautiously moving aside the blanket that Wynonna had set up. They blushed when they saw Rosita and Mercedes making out, Wynonna drinking from her flask. “We’re not all going to fit up here.”

Wynonna scrambled up close to Nicole, wrenching the blanket from their hands and closing it as much as possible. “Well, y'all are gonna have to figure it out. Okay? Wild horses could not drag me away from what’s happening back here.” She closed the blanket briefly but opened it again just as quickly. “Also, looks like you have some macaroni of your own cooking over there.” Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, eyes flitting over to Beth before looking back at Nicole. They blushed and gave Wynonna a look. She just winked.

With that, Wynonna closed the blanket again and Nicole sighed. They turned back to Beth who was still looking up at them with big eyes. She was pretty, Nicole would admit that. She was pretty and cute but the Gardeners were...complicated.

Nicole learned about them pretty quickly when she moved here just before high school. They basically ran the town and could get away with anything and everything. There was just that unavoidable air of privilege surrounding them that made Nicole feel awkward. They looked back down at Beth and how her pink lips turned up into a smile. 

“Can I ask your pronouns? I read you should ask if you don’t know. Like when you meet new people,” Beth whispered. 

Nicole quickly cleared their throat and turned on the car. Their face felt hot and their throat dry. She - _they_ \- reached for one of the many drinks they’d picked up in the gas station, which happened to be on Beth’s lap. Their hand brushed her thigh and Nicole quickly recoiled.

“Sorry-”

“It’s okay,” Beth smiled, and Nicole froze again.

No one had ever asked Nicole their pronouns. Sure this was fairly new and Purgatory wasn’t necessarily _progressive_ but it still felt like a moment. One they couldn’t fuck up. Except Waverly was sitting right beside Beth, and there really wasn’t any privacy when everyone was stacked together like this. Waverly wouldn't make it a thing, but it still terrified Nicole.

“S-she is fine,” Nicole said, already feeling the regret heavy in their stomach. They held the bottle of soda between their thighs and opened the top, taking a long sip to help their parched throat. Screwing the lid back on, Nicole shifted the Bus into gear and pulled away from the gas pump just as a loud moan came from the back.

“Okay,” Waverly said, connecting her phone to the speaker they’d brought along since there was no way this radio was going to go loud enough to cover the inevitable noises coming out of the back. She cranked up the music loudly and Nic looked over to give her a thankful smile. Waverly smiled back just as Beth leaned more into Nicole’s vision.

“My pronouns are she/her too,” Beth said with the excitement of a little kid that just learned a new trick.

“Awesome!” Nicole kicked themself. What a stupid thing to say. 

“Babe, I’m cramped,” Champ flopped around against the car door before finally just pulling Waverly onto his lap with a smug grin. “This is better.”

Nicole quickly looked away.

“Champ, this isn’t safe,” they heard Waverly say.

“Come on, it’ll be fine,” Champ squeezed Waverly’s thigh and Nicole swallowed thickly. Beth reached for the soda bottle just then, fingers purposefully brushing along the inside of Nicole’s thigh as she did.

“I’ll hold that for you.”

Maybe Beth wasn’t so bad after all. Especially since she seemed interested, which was a hell of a lot more than Nicole could say about Waverly. Maybe it was time to just count her losses and move on.

Plus, it had been so long since they made out with someone.

“Thanks.” Nicole gave Beth a dimpled smile and turned back to the front. They slowly pulled out of the gas station, taking their time looking both ways even though there was absolutely no one on the road. They gazed down The Last Road towards the forest, a chill running up their spine.

The forest was dense, practically black past the first line of trees. Their limbs were long and unruly, almost creating a tunnel over the road, the dark concrete disappearing into it. Branches reached down like the long, dripping fangs of a great beast just waiting to devour an unwitting little mouse.

Nicole swallowed again, hands flexing on the wheel as they turned the Bus towards the forest. They shifted in their seat as they slowly drove towards it. Their stomach clenched and palms got sweatier as they got closer and closer to the entrance. It felt like the whole car was holding their breath, staring at the entrance of the forest as they drove towards its maw. Nicole could hear the blood pounding in their ears, forest getting bigger and bigger in the windshield the closer they got. Soon the trees towered in front of them, nearly blocking out the sun. 

Nicole kept their eyes on the road, and when they finally crossed over into the forest it was like driving through an invisible veil. The temperature dropped several degrees and they were plunged into darkness. The sun barely breached the branches above them, but Nicole’s eyes adjusted to the dim light the further in they got.

Letting out a breath, Nicole willed their shoulders to relax. They wiped their sweaty palms off on their jeans as they drove, and unclenched their jaw. There was nothing wrong with the forest. Clearly. It was just weird. 

Beth’s hand landed high on Nicole’s thigh, making them jump and hit their knee on the bottom of the steering wheel. Nicole hissed in pain and Beth’s hand soothed over the forming bruise.

“Oh no, are you okay?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nicole said with an awkward smile. Beth seemed to lean more into Nicole’s side.

“So, you’re a mechanic, right?” 

Waverly turned up the music to just below uncomfortable and drowned out Beth’s voice. That didn’t seem to deter Beth who just scooted closer to Nicole, their arm practically nestled between Beth’s breasts.

Beth leaned closer to Nicole’s ear. “I like when people work with their hands.”

Waverly coughed and suddenly turned the radio back down. Except now all they heard were muffled moans in the back of the van.

“Great,” Waverly said sarcastically as she turned the music back on to a reasonably high level. Champ was stretching his arms and trying not so subtly to peek in the back of the van. That was until Waverly elbowed him in the ribs. Nicole allowed themself one happy chuckle at the sight of him clutching his side in pain. 

Beth didn’t move but started just talking about herself, which was just fine. Nicole preferred it, actually. A welcome distraction from Champ’s hand creeping higher on Waverly’s leg. Not to mention the little giggles and curses coming from behind her. Still, there was a creeping dread up their spine that they just couldn’t shake. Pushing a strand of short red hair behind their ear, Nic then started drumming their fingers on the steering wheel nervously. To say they were a little overwhelmed was a bit of an understatement.

“Anyways, I realized I liked girls too when I kissed Stephanie at a party our Senior year. When did you realize you were gay?” Beth asked cheerfully.

Nicole just barely looked at Beth before they felt compelled to look back at the road. It was smooth and new, seemingly barely used, but for some reason they just felt like they had to keep their eyes on it or else something bad would happen. 

“Um,” Nicole shifted a little, seat squeaking under them. “I just kinda always knew I think.”

“That sounds hard.”

Nicole shrugged, relaxing a little with the distraction. “It was. But it was a little lucky too, I think. To just _know_ from a young age and not have years and years of denial. You know?”

Beth’s hand squeezed Nicole’s knee, reminding them it was there. “That makes sense too.” Beth’s hand ran up Nicole’s knee and moved it to their bicep. 

Nicole couldn’t help how their eyes darted over to see if Waverly had seen the move, but she just had a death grip on Champ’s arm, staring directly ahead with her jaw clenched while he tried to show her something on his phone. 

“I bet that makes you strong in a lot of ways,” Beth said with a wink. “As in physically _and_ emotionally. Get it?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Nicole held back a smile.

“Everyone got it, Beth,” Waverly said a little sharply. 

“What?” Champ said, looking up from his phone.

Nicole cleared their throat and allowed themselves to flex their arm just the tiniest bit for Beth’s benefit. They had to admit, being flirted with was doing a lot for their ego. Even if they felt oddly guilty with Waverly right there, even though she was on her boyfriend’s lap. 

“Just so you know, I’m only looking for sex,” Beth said casually.

Nicole nearly choked on their own tongue and Waverly started coughing.

“Oh, um, o-okay,” Nicole said, unsure what else to say. But they was absolutely sure there was a deep blush going up their neck and lighting their cheeks. 

“I’ve never slept with a girl-”

Nicole blushed even harder, hoping the cringe she felt was only internal.

“-and like, you’re definitely one of the hottest girls I’ve ever seen, so.”

“Oh - uh - thank you.” Nicole couldn’t help but be flattered, sitting up a little straighter in her seat and giving Beth a crooked smile. Her eyes caught Waverly’s over Beth’s head and she looked like she was throwing daggers at the back of Beth’s head. Nic frowned. It felt odd that Waverly would care. Maybe...possibly...could she-

_Thump!_

Nic jumped, eyes back on the windshield where there now was a large splat of blood in the middle, thick and red. They managed to keep the wheel straight as everyone screamed in response to the loud noise.

“What the hell!” Wynonna shouted from the back. Nicole pulled over, still staring at the red streak across the glass. Beth’s fingernails were practically digging into their arm, breasts once more entrapping their arm.

Wynonna ripped down the blanket separating the front from the back and Nicole saw Rosita pulling her shirt back on and Mercedes messing with her hair. 

“What did you do to my baby, Haught?” Wynonna narrowed her eyes at Nicole, lips suspiciously shiny.

“Suddenly this piece of junk is your baby?” Nicole said flatly. 

“Something hit the car,” Waverly said, leaning closer to the windshield.

“I’ll go see what it is,” Nicole went to open the door but Wynonna’s hand on their shoulder stopped them. “What?”

“Don’t get out of the bus, never get out of the bus,” Wynonna said seriously. “Remember?”

Nicole gave Wynonna a half smile. “You know, it’s not high school field trips anymore, I don’t think that quite applies here.”

“Bad luck,” Wynonna said.

“I’ll go,” Waverly sighed. “Whatever we hit might be suffering.”

“This rule doesn’t just apply to Nic, baby girl,” Wynonna said.

“It’ll be fine. I just want to make sure it’s not suffering or anything like Waves said,” Nicole said. 

They could tell by the look in Beth’s eyes that was exactly the right thing to say. But the second she took to smile at Beth, Champ burped and slid Waverly off of his lap. 

“I’ll go, ladies,” he said with a sleazy wink and click of his tongue. Nicole’s competitiveness flared up as he opened the door and they quickly slid out of the car too. 

“Nic!” Wynonna cursed just as Nicole spotted a black crumpled mass on the road behind them. Squinting, they just kept marching forward, their stomach feeling heavier and heavier as their boots sounded on the pavement. Somehow the asphalt felt hot under the soles of their boots despite the obvious chill in the air from the thick overhang of branches.

As they got closer, they saw that the black mass was twitching. There were what looked like feathers sticking up like a broken crown and as Nicole got closer they realized it was a bird. They heard the doors of the Bus open behind them but couldn’t pull their eyes away from the bird. Nicole itched to get back into the car but for some reason their legs felt compelled to move, unable to stop getting closer and closer to it.

They noticed a pool of blood around the bird, lying on its back with one wing spread and the other bent at an odd angle. The feathers were black as oil, reflecting what little light shined through the canopy above to make it look almost blue. Black inky eyes blinked rapidly, beak clicking together and pink foam around its mouth.

“Sick,” Champ said, wrinkling his nose.

Nicole crouched down near the bird, stomach turning.

“What is it?” Beth said, walking up behind them. Everyone was slowly getting out of the car, curiosity beckoning them.

“A bird,” Nicole said.

“Looks like a raven,” Rosita said. 

“It just came out of nowhere,” Waverly said, with what sounded like awe.

“Alright,” Champ said, stepping up to it. “I’ll take care of it.”

Without hesitation, he lifted up his thick soled boot. Inky black eyes stared back at Nicole and they swore they heard almost a whisper of a voice before the heel of Champ’s boot came down hard on the bird’s head. Nicole looked away just before its eyes bulged but all she could hear was the sickening sound of its delicate skull being crushed into the pavement. Like crunching down on a piece of unexpected eggshell and instantly feeling that gag in your throat. 

Nic was going to be sick.

They watched Champ straighten up and drag his heel over the asphalt to get the gore off of it. 

Nicole stood up and everyone was just looking at the bird rather solemnly. Wynonna shook her head, blue eyes squinting up at Nicole. 

“Never get out of the Bus, dude,” she said. 

“Well, you had your fun so you can drive again,” Nicole said. Waverly looked like she had tears in her eyes and Nicole nearly reached for her but was reminded of their place when Champ’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. They licked their lips and walked quickly back to the van, jumping into the back where hopefully they wouldn’t have to endure the torture of watching Champ paw at Waverly.

Wynonna grumbled but got into the driver’s seat anyway, and Nicole settled into the back again. Beth got in the back right after them, settling down right beside Nicole. Waverly got in quickly afterwards, Champ following her like a puppy dog. Admittedly Nicole was a little smug about the fact that he had to sit next to the extra gallon of gas that Wynonna had gotten at the station. Hopefully there was the slightest hint of fumes that would make him woozy.

The back of the car smelled funky, and Nicole tapped on Wynonna’s shoulder. “Roll down a window, you made it stink back here.”

“I made it better,” Wynonna said pointedly before cranking down the window. Beth giggled as she scooted closer to Nic and spread a blanket over both of their laps.

“Uh-”

“You know, just in case,” Beth winked.

Waverly looked like she wanted to kill them. Nicole made sure both of their hands were over the blanket. Was Waverly really that upset that Nicole was vaguely flirting with Beth? They didn’t think their friendship with Beth was _that_ close that she was off limits. As far as Nicole knew they had only gone to high school together. 

“Waves, what have you been reading lately?” Nicole said out of mild desperation to get attention off of the flirting.

Plus, the way Waverly’s eyes lit up was worth it. She pulled her backpack closer to her and pulled out her book. “It’s called _A Canticle for Leibowitz_. It’s about the end of the world. And religion. Basically-”

Nic smiled as Waverly went on about her book, nodding and asking questions when it felt appropriate. They were mostly impressed with themself that they didn’t just zone out and stare at Waverly’s lips as they moved. It was certainly a welcome distraction from the continued dread in their stomach.

The drive stretched on for what felt like an eternity, and a quick look at Nic’s phone confirmed it had been about three hours. Waverly had been reading and ended up falling asleep, Beth had her head on Nicole’s shoulder and was dozing off. Even Champ was blessedly quiet, staring vacantly out the window with his mouth open. In the front, Rosita was as curled into Wynonna’s side as she could be, fast asleep and Mercedes looked like she was giving herself a manicure. Nic had just begun to drift asleep when there was a rattling in the engine like the death rattle of a dying beast. 

“Shit,” Wynonna said from the front.

Nicole listened as the rattling continued and there was some kind of popping sound, the smell of burning filling the Bus. Wynonna pulled the Bus over and everyone grumbled as they woke up from their naps. 

“Haught, what did you do to my baby?” Wynonna said, as she turned around in the seat.

“I made it run, Earp,” Nicole said. They took the blanket off their lap and picked their way over legs to get out of the Bus, a cold chill hitting them almost instantly. They shivered and looked up towards the branches, searching for a hint of the sun behind them. It looked like the sun was already mostly gone, just enough dusky light making its way through the thick covering. They moved around to the back of the Bus where there was smoke billowing out of the hatch that hid the engine. “Shit.”

They bundled up their hand under their shirt to open the hatch without burning themselves. The great hunk of metal belched out smoke and smelled horrid, so Nic lifted up their shirt to cover their nose. They waved their hand in front of their face to try and help the smoke dissipate. Beth seemed to come out of nowhere, making Nic jump when she ran her hand over their newly exposed stomach.

“Need help?” Beth looked up at them through her eyelashes.

“Actually, can you get me my tools out of my bag?” Nicole asked, subtly taking a step away from Beth. Her eyes lit up and she nodded, going back around the Bus while everyone else got out. Beth off their mind, Nicole looked at the engine, most of the smoke finally gone, and put their hands on their hips. 

They crouched in front of the engine, heat radiating towards their face as they tried to see if they could see anything wrong. Beth came bouncing back and proudly handed Nic their roll of tools.

“Thanks,” Nicole said.

“You should probably take your shirt off too so it doesn’t get dirty,” Beth said, wiggling her eyebrows and maybe not quite grasping the potential seriousness of the situation.

“It’s a little chilly,” Nicole mumbled, as they unrolled the tools. They plucked out the black bandana that was tucked among the tools, using it to unscrew the oil cap. 

“Tell me, Haught,” Wynonna said, leaning against the Bus next to where Nicole was working. “We gonna make it to the foam party tonight?”

“Probably not,” Nicole said. “But I haven’t figured out what’s wrong with it yet either.”

“Maybe I should take a look,” Champ said, peacocking as he came around the Bus with his chest puffed. “I am a man that knows a thing or two about cars.”

Wynonna turned and blocked Champ’s path. He bounced off her a little, chest deflating. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you _also_ work at the auto shop in town?” Wynonna asked. “Because last I checked, Nic here is the only one that does and therefore the only one who will put their hands on my baby.”

“I’m just trying to help,” Champ pouted like a reprimanded child. 

“Yeah, well go help somewhere else!”

“Whatever, I gotta take a piss anyways,” Champ muttered as he stomped off towards the forest. Nicole felt a chill on the back of their neck and the overwhelming urge to call Champ back to the Bus where everyone was together.

Instead they just called, “Don’t go too far in the forest!”

Champ turned around. “I get it, ladies, you don’t want the man to stray too far.”

Nicole rolled their eyes and bit the side of their tongue. Next time they’d just keep their mouth shut.

“Tool,” Wynonna muttered under her breath.

“Yep,” Nicole said, watching as he disappeared into the trees.

***

Champ stretched his arms over his head as he stepped past the first wall of trees into the forest. He didn’t know why everyone was so freaked out by the forest or whatever. It was just trees and shit.

He kicked the trunk of a tree just to prove it, some bark breaking off under his boot. 

A breeze rattled the leaves and he looked up as he walked a little further into the trees.

The sun was almost completely blocked by the heavy growth at this point, so he stopped and looked behind him. Yeah, no way any of those girls could see his dong from there. Not that he would mind, obviously, even if they all seemed like lezzies. Nah, he would raw dog any of those chicks if they let him. 

He frowned, thinking to himself as he drew down the zipper of his pants. Wait. Waverly said she was half gay, right? Which was like, totally sexy. Even better if Waverly got in on it with him and one of those other chicks. He hadn’t asked her for a threesome since she first told him she was kinda gay and she went on and on afterwards about stereotypes or some shit. Champ tried to listen, he really did, but sometimes he just didn’t understand what she was saying and it got boring. It wasn’t his fault. 

Champ sighed as he pissed on the side of the tree, moving his hips around to try and make his piss form a penis on the trunk. He threw his hips a little too wide and ended up making some sort of bug looking thing instead. 

Still, he snapped a pic of it to show people later before doing his pants back up. He was tucking himself into his boxers when he heard the snap of a twig deep in the forest. He paused, a chill running up his spine as he squinted towards the noise. He could barely see anything beyond inky darkness and strained his eyes for a hint of something else.

There was another snap, this time from the other side of him. The hair rose on his neck and he started slowly backing towards the way he came, pants still undone. Then he remembered all the girls back at the car. He couldn’t look like a chicken shit in front of them. Especially Nicole. She was always looking at Waverly funny and he didn’t like that. He didn’t need her looking at his girlfriend. Especially when sometimes Waverly talked a little too much about Nicole.

It was never anything interesting either. Just about her doing well at the auto shop where she was the receptionist or whatever. 

Champ scoffed to himself and stood up straighter. “Alright, what’s out there. A deer? Probably just a lame ass deer.”

He sucked his teeth and was struck with an idea. He’d scare whatever it was away. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flash on his camera. Aiming it towards the darkness, he took a picture. In the flash, he saw two glowing pairs of eyes shining back at him like demons and he screamed.

***

Champ’s scream echoed through the trees and Nicole stood up quickly, eyes wide like saucers.

“Champ?” Waverly breathed before the realization hit her, then she yelled. “Champ!”

There was a loud crash just beyond the trees and Champ came stumbling out, face pale and arms flailing. He ran directly into Waverly’s arms, nearly knocking her over as he scrambled with his phone.

“What was it?” Waverly said, taking his face between her hands. “Champ, sweetie, what was it?”

“I-I-I I don’t know,” Champ said, sliding open his phone. “It was a _monster_ I swear.”

He shoved the phone into her hand and everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for the reveal. They blinked down at the phone, Champ’s face turning to a frown.

“Guys, come on, what the fuck is this?” Wynonna went over and grabbed the phone from Waverly’s hand. She squinted at the phone for a moment before she exploded into a laugh. “It’s a racoon!”

“It looked fucking huge in there, okay! It was dark!” Champ said, as he angrily did up his pants.

Nicole could tell Waverly was holding in a laugh as Beth, Mercedes, and Rosita descended on Wynonna to look at the phone. Nicole couldn’t help but strain their neck a little bit to see the picture, and it definitely was a racoon standing up on its hind legs, paws reaching towards the sky in a form of intimidation. Its little eyes reflected the flash but it certainly was just a racoon.

Nicole snorted to themselves before turning back to the grim mess before them. One of their belts had been cut and there was nothing they could do about it without getting a part.

Waverly was trying to comfort Champ, who seemed more mad than freaked out now with everyone laughing at him. He snatched his phone from Wynonna’s hand and stuffed it back into his pocket. Before he could talk, Nicole spoke up.

“I got bad news,” they said as they stuffed the bandana in the back pocket of their jeans. “The belt is cut. I can’t fix it.”

“Fuck,” Wynonna said. “How would that happen?”

Nicole shrugged, trying to get rid of the heavy feeling on her shoulders. “I don’t know. I checked all this yesterday and it seemed fine.”

“It’s fine, we have a guy on call,” Mercedes waved her hand and pulled up her phone. “He can come out and fix it.” She held up her phone and squinted, moving it around and squinting some more. “No signal.”

Nicole felt the dread weighing on them. They had a feeling nothing was going to go right for them at this moment. Pulling out their own phone, Nic saw there were no bars on theirs either. Fuck. Everyone else did the same, holding their phones up closer to the sky like it would magically fix it. Everyone slowly shook their heads, and any hope left in Nicole died.

“We can wait for another car to pass and wave them down,” Waverly suggested, arms over her chest. 

“Baby girl, there hasn’t been a single car on this road the _entire_ time we’ve been on it,” Wynonna said.”Have you noticed?”

Nicole shuddered. They had noticed. That certainly had a lot to do with the uneasy feeling that hadn’t left them this entire drive.

“Well, what now?” Champ said. “We walk back to the gas station?”

“No way, it’s too far,” Wynonna said.

“And it’s already getting dark,” Rosita said. “It would be dumb.”

“I guess we can all sleep in the car,” Waverly shrugged.

“Fine, hope you all brought earplugs,” Wynonna said. “And if you see the blanket movin’, don’t you be lookin’.”

“Look at that,” Beth pointed to something lying down off the side of the road. It was covered in leaves and fallen branches but the bold white letters were easy enough to make out.

Camp Twin Lake  
Two Miles

There the vague evidence of a road just behind the sign. Hard dirt packed down and debris over it. It went into the forest, the trees parting just wide enough for the road.

“We could go there,” Wynonna said. “Might be fun, an old camp. Might be some cool stuff there. At least we could spread out a bit.”

Nicole rubbed the back of their neck and gazed towards the road. Walking down that dark trail into the forest seemed like the worst idea. They licked their lips and looked over at Wynonna who was looking at everyone expectantly. 

Rosita shrugged. “We have alcohol. We can drink by the lake.”

“That could be fun,” Champ said, putting his arm over Waverly’s shoulders. It seemed like all his previous embarrassment was gone. 

“I mean...I guess it might be more comfortable than being squished together in the car,” Waverly said. Nicole was sure her voice still sounded unsure.

Wynonna looked over at them expectantly and Nicole shrugged. “Do I have a choice?”

“No,” Wynonna said. “Come on, we’ll make a shitty situation not as shitty with booze and making out.”

Champ laughed and Nicole felt even more sick.

“Fine,” Nicole sighed. Wynonna smiled and Nicole shut the engine door. 

“Sweet! Let’s make sure we grab all of the alcohol.”

***

The path was rough and uneven from lack of use, all ruts, fallen branches, and trees. The dirt was still packed down to form a road under the rubbish. Waverly was thankful she’d decided to wear her sneakers today instead of something more difficult to walk in. It was getting chilly though, and she was regretting her shorts. Whenever there was a breeze she caught a bit of a shiver.

Just off the sides of the road the forest started again, trees thick. Waverly couldn’t see past a few feet into the forest, and decidedly looked away. The longer she looked into the forest, the more uneasy she became.

Champ insisted on leading the way, of course, and Waverly trailed closely behind him. She could hear everyone talking behind them and wanted to hang back to talk to Nicole, but wasn’t sure if Nicole wanted to talk to her, with all the attention she was giving Beth.

Waverly brushed her long hair over her shoulder, using the move to look over her shoulder. Nicole was walking next to Beth still, both smiling and clearly flirting. She felt the jealousy wrapping around her heart, squeezing it and making her sick. 

Champ sighed next to her, reminding Waverly that she had no right to feel jealous. She frowned as he adjusted himself in his pants and then reached for her. His hand was sweaty and squeezed hers a little too tight, but Waverly held on just the same. Champ was nice enough. They’d been on and off, mostly on, since high school, and he was stable. Not to mention Purgatory wasn’t exactly a booming dating town. Most people picked out who they wanted in high school and just stuck with it. Everyone (except maybe Wynonna) seemed to assume that they’d end up married at some point. 

If Waverly was being honest, she was bored of him. Had been for a while. But breaking up with Champ seemed to be harder than she first thought. She had tried at least four times, but he never seemed to understand and just showed back up a couple of days later with flowers and that stupid charming smile that had gotten her in the first place. 

Truly, Waverly was more than a little interested in Nicole. She had been since high school, but Nicole never seemed to look at her as any more than her best friend’s little sister. It made sense in high school when the three year age difference felt like a chasm, but twenty-one and twenty-four wasn’t terrible. Except that Nicole _still_ didn’t seem interested.

Waverly felt like no matter how short her skirts went or how much attention she paid to her, Nicole never showed interest. Sometimes she could make Nicole blush and she cherished those moments, hoping it meant that maybe Nicole could have a crush on her too. Still, Nicole never made a move. Even in the brief moments Waverly would be very loud about being broken up with Champ.

Though she supposed it wasn’t fair when it seemed like Champ was a bad habit that Waverly couldn’t quit. Sometimes it was just easier to be in a relationship. Even if it was a boring one. Unsatisfying sex whenever she wanted, and when she didn’t want to be alone, he was right there.

She heard Beth laugh loudly and turned back around to see her trapping Nicole’s arm against her chest, looking up at her like she was ready to rip her clothes off.

Waverly clenched her jaw and turned back towards the path.

“How much longer?” Mercedes complained.

“Probably not much,” Nicole said.

Waverly turned to walk backwards so she could watch the inevitable bickering that was about to happen. Plus now she had an excuse to stare at Nicole, who Wynonna had weighed down with bags using the excuse that she was the tallest. Nicole was in tight jeans that she had noticed hugged her ass just right and a cut off t-shirt that Waverly could see her sports bra in. With the cooler bag of alcohol in one hand, the lines of her muscles were apparent on her arms. Waverly wanted to be in her arms so badly.

“That’s what you said five thousand miles ago, Ginge,” Mercedes said. “My feet weren’t planning on doing this much walking today.”

“If Nicole says we’re close, we’re close,” Beth said. She held onto Nicole’s arm tighter and Waverly rolled her eyes. They landed on Wynonna who was giving her an unreadable look. Waverly turned back around when she stumbled a little and gripped Champ’s hand again.

“Look!” she said, pointing at an old wooden arch. Carved into the top of the arch it said “Welcome to Camp Twin Lake!!”

“Finally!” Wynonna sighed dramatically. She caught up to Waverly and looped their arms together. “Hey, Chump, why don’t you prove you're a man and go ahead to make sure it looks safe or whatever.”

“Good idea,” Champ said, chest puffing. “I’ll be back, babe. Try not to miss me.”

He winked at Waverly before jogging ahead. She let out a breath of relief and smiled over at Wynonna who had a worrying look in her eye.

“Did you bring your boyfriend out to the woods just to break up with him?” Wynonna whispered with a smirk.

“No, Wynonna,” Waverly was bored of this question. “We’re fine.”

“Really? Because I keep catching you looking at a certain ginger.”

“Mercedes isn’t really my type.”

“Funny, Waves,” Wynonna said. “I’m just saying. Champ is a tool and you’re better off without him. Nicole is an idiot but at least Nicole would treat you right.”

“Champ treats me just fine,” Waverly said, wondering why she was defending a boy she really didn’t care that much for. Habit, she figured.

“Sure he treats you _fine_. He’s mediocre at best. I just want you to be with someone who doesn’t take you for granted and knows how to treat you,” Wynonna said. “And if I learned anything from the few years Nicole and I shared an apartment, it’s that Haught Pocket is great in bed.”

Waverly blushed and unconsciously looked back at Nicole and Beth again. Nicole laughed at something Beth said, and it broke Waverly’s heart more than she would have imagined.

“Don’t be crass,” Waverly said. She played with the ends of her hair as she forced herself to keep her eyes on the opening scenery ahead. They had made it past the sign and the forest opened up to a large clearing with a lake in the middle of it.

There was a moderate sized building off to the side, a sign hanging on it that said: “Main Office”. Just a little down another road behind that you could see what looked like camper housing, a little over a dozen small cabins clustered together. It was hard to see in the dark, but it looked like there were even more cabins beyond that. 

Waverly looked out to the lake, the moon shining down and reflecting off its perfectly serene surface. It almost looked like glass. There was a small dock with some canoes stacked up on the sides.

The whole clearing was fairly large, Waverly was surprised that much space existed in the middle of this forest.

What seemed even more odd was that there wasn’t much vandalism of the place. There was no graffiti on the sides of the buildings or litter all over the place. Waverly saw Champ jogging towards them from behind the welcome cabin with a sort of childish smile of accomplishment.

“There are bunks in those cabins back there,” he said, slowing down as he reached the group and throwing his thumb over his shoulder. “And everything’s unlocked. Boys in one cabin, girls in the other. And since I’m the only dude, Waverly will bunk with me.”

“What are we nuns?” Wynonna complained. “Separating by genders isn’t cool anymore, Chump.”

Champ rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Whatever.”

“Let’s just go put our stuff down in the cabins, huh?” Nicole said. She smiled at Wynonna who gave her a thumbs up and a wink. Waverly looked between the two suspiciously but just followed the group.

Nicole opened up one of the cabins, looking in the door for a moment before holding it open. “Alright, looks safe.”

“Thanks,” Beth said, hand on Nicole’s chest as she winked up at her and went into the cabin. Waverly bit the inside of her cheek but smiled at Nicole anyways as she walked past her and went inside. The moonlight streamed through the windows, lighting up the room just enough to see the insides. There were three bunkbeds set up, one against each wall to leave the middle empty and a table with some chairs on the wall without a bed. It smelled like moth balls and dust and she was sure that the mattresses in the bunk beds were caked with dirt and other things she’d rather not ponder on.

Champ swung himself into one of the top bunks, dust exploding out of the mattress under his body. Waverly wrinkled her nose and he smiled at her. 

“Come on, babe, it’s cozy.”

“It’s filthy.”

“Alright alright,” Wynonna said, setting her bag in the middle of the room with everyone else’s. “If we’re stuck here, we might as well make it worth it. I saw a firepit, let’s make a fire and get drunk to make this night go by faster so we can get back on the road tomorrow.”

“That sounds fun.” Beth seemed unable to be more than a foot away from Nicole, and Waverly wished very strongly that they had left her at the gas station. “Romantic.”

“We’ll go look for wood,” Wynonna winked. She reached for Rosita’s hand and tugged them together. Rosita laughed and pecked Wynonna’s lips, making her smile too. 

Waverly was glad that Wynonna seemed to have found someone who was her match, but also someone who could handle her chaoticness. Rosita seemed to reel her in a little bit and keep her at least vaguely focused. Waverly couldn’t pretend she was surprised by this new Mercedes addition, she’d accidentally walked in on a lot of wild things.

“Come on, ‘Cedes.” Wynonna cocked her head towards the door and leaned against it to open it for them, moonlight streaming through the door and illuminating the cabin. Wynonna’s eyes dropped noticeably below the belt as Rosita and Mercedes went through, then slipped out looking too smug. The door banged shut behind them and plunged them back into darkness.

Nicole snorted. “Think we’ll see them again tonight?”

“They better, I want that bonfire,” Champ said. He sat up in the bunk, legs hanging over the side. He had a grin on his face like he just thought he had the best idea. “Hey, babe, let’s go find some shit to burn too.”

Waverly sighed, already tired of Champ pawing at her and trying to get into her pants. But Beth looked like she was about to devour Nicole and Waverly didn’t want to witness that either. 

“Yeah, fine,” Waverly said, heading towards the door with Champ tailing close behind.

***

Wynonna kicked open the door of the main cabin and took a look around. There was a reception table in the front, an old computer sitting like a stone right behind it, caked in dust. There was a thick layer of dust over everything, but a surprising lack of decay. It didn’t look like animals had moved in since the place had been abandoned, but vines stretched and grew over the walls. The fresh green contrasted with the brown of the wooden walls, and Wynonna kicked at a rock on the floor as she walked inside. 

Looking down at her phone, she grumbled to see there was still no reception, but at least she could use the flashlight. She looked at the reception desk as she walked past it, fliers about ticks and poison ivy littering it along with a few sign-in sheets. 

_Canoe sign up!_

“What happened to this place?” Mercedes said, as she explored.

It was a little creepy, the whole vibe of the place. Abandoned properties weren’t necessarily uncommon in or around Purgatory, but there was something about this one...

Rosita went behind the reception desk and picked up a book, blowing dust off the front cover. Wynonna couldn’t help but smile. Her girlfriend was so hot and awesome. She didn’t like to get sappy but...Wynonna definitely felt lucky to have her.

“I don’t know. It looks like everyone just...left one day,” Rosita said, flipping through the book. 

“Bonfire food?” Wynonna asked with a tip of her head.

“No, I want to read this one.” Rosita held it to her chest and Wynonna shrugged. 

Wynonna noticed another door behind the desk and pushed it open a little cautiously. She wandered into the dark room, flashlight leading the way. There was a box in the corner with camp shirts spilling out of it, deep blue with white trim ringer t-shirts, and some various sporting equipment cluttering up the space. Wynonna hummed in disinterest but noticed another door behind the box of clothes. Shoving the box out of the way with her foot, she opened the door and frowned. 

On the floor was a circle of melted candles, an old book lying in the middle of it. It couldn’t have been any bigger than the palm of Wynonna’s hand, old leather dark and hard with age. It looked hand bound, a darker cord stitched along the edge. Wynonna crouched down and picked up the book, running her fingers over the cover that was surprisingly absent of dirt. 

“What’d you find?” Rosita asked as she came into the room. 

“Weird book,” Wynonna said as she flipped it open. The pages were thick yellow parchment and smelled like smoke, elegant inked writing standing out on every page. The ink looked odd. Wynonna brought the book closer to her face to try and get a good look at it. It wasn’t black, it was almost a rust color. Wynonna shivered. “Blood.”

“No way!” Rosita took the book from Wynonna’s hand and looked at it closely. “Huh.”

“Weird, right?”

“I don’t like it. Put it back,” Rosita practically tossed the book at Wynonna. 

“Come on, it’s just a stupid thing some kids left here,” Wynonna said as she opened the book again. “It’s all in a different language anyways.”

“It’s freaky. Don’t mess with it,” Rosita said, giving Wynonna a warning look. “I know white people don’t understand, but you don’t fuck around with that evil junk.”

“It’s just a joke, it’s not real,” Wynonna said. She gasped when she found a page in English and smiled up at Rosita. 

“Wynonna,” she said in warning. “Don’t. Just leave it alone.”

Raising a teasing eyebrow, Wynonna began to read out loud. 

_”Pale moonbeams from a full moon  
Steady beat of a heart   
Long dead  
Filled with dirt   
Send a steward from hell  
To do your bidding.”_

Wynonna had to admit, a chill ran up her spine when she read it, but to be fair Rosie had really built it up. They stood staring at each other, nothing but silence filling the space between them, like she was waiting for something to happen. Rosita even looked a little pale in the dim light, eyes wide. 

There was a loud crash in the next room and they both screamed a little. Rosita reached for Wynonna who held her tight, heart in her throat. 

“Sorry!” Mercedes yelled from the other room. “But I found wood!”

Wynonna took a moment to catch her breath and snorted, laughing as she looked at Rosita. 

“Little jumpy from some shitty poetry, huh?”

“Stop,” Rosita pushed Wynonna away as she snatched the book from her hand and tossed it back where Wynonna had found it. “We don’t fuck with that woowoo stuff.”

“Aw, come on,” Wynonna said, wrapping her arms around Rosita’s waist. “It was a joke. Nothing happened.”

Rosita raised her eyebrow at her, lips pressed together tightly and her hands on Wynonna’s forearms to keep their distance. 

“It’s not funny,” Rosita insisted, seriously. “You know I don’t like that shit.”

Wynonna softened and tried to pull Rosita even closer despite her resistance. She kissed Rosita’s unrelenting lips. 

“I’m sorry,” Wynonna said, making her eyes wide. “I was just being an ass.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Rosita let out a breath and relaxed in Wynonna’s arms. She let Wynonna kiss her again, kissing her back this time much to Wynonna’s relief. “Just don’t do it again. I didn’t bring any holy water with me.”

“Okay, babe,” Wynonna said. She kissed Rosita’s full lips again, sighing at their softness. She wanted Rosita naked and maybe Mercedes riding her face. They hadn’t been able to do much more than fondle each other under clothes in the Bus, but Wynonna was hoping for a repeat performance tonight. “Come on,” Wynonna said, squeezing Rosita’s ass. “Let’s get this fire started.”

***

Waverly knew as soon as they walked into the empty counselor cabin that she had to break up with Champ. 

Again.

He was annoying her to no end and kept pawing at her hips the entire time they’d been walking over here. When he said he wanted to look for wood, she had a feeling he was referencing the situation in his pants rather than actual wood. She sighed when he pulled her flush against him as soon as they got into the cabin. Sometimes she didn’t want to be right.

“Champ,” she grumbled, trying to push him away. “Not now.”

“Come on, please?” he begged, in that boyish way she used to find charming. “I’ve had a semi since you were sitting on my lap earlier.”

Waverly shivered in disgust and pushed him away by the chest. “I’m not in the mood, Champ.”

She turned to look at the cabin. It was a little smaller than the camper’s quarters, but there were two twin beds in it instead of bunk beds, and what looked like a bathroom off to the side. 

“Babe, come on, it’s been like...two weeks,” Champ lamented, sitting down hard on one of the beds so that it creaked under him. 

Waverly ignored him and wandered around the cabin, looking for anything interesting, but it all seemed neat and put together. It was a surprise to her that she hadn’t read anything about this place during all her research on Purgatory history. It was a little disturbing actually that there was an entire campsite hidden in the woods she hadn’t heard about.

“Babe,” Champ commanded Waverly’s attention and she turned to look at him. He had already taken his shirt off and had his pants unzipped. He pointed at his crotch like it was a surprise present, eyebrows wriggling. “I’m ready for ya. Just hop on.”

Waverly wrinkled her nose and shook her head. She sighed, walking up to Champ with determination. 

“Champ,” Waverly said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “We’re done.”

Champ blinked up at her dumbly. “What?”

“Yeah, we’re done,” Waverly repeated, feeling more sure in her words. A weight lifted from her shoulders and she couldn’t help but smile at the feeling. “I’m sorry it’s happening like this but...I think when we go to a gas station tomorrow, it’s best if you just go home.”

Champ sputtered, quickly standing up but his pants fell around his thighs and stopped him from going after Waverly, who was already backing towards the door. “Wait, Waverly, you don’t mean it. You’ve tried breaking up with me before-”

“I mean it this time, Champ,” Waverly said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re done.”

“Waverly, come on,” Champ pleaded. “Is this about Nicole? Because you can fuck her if you want if I can be there-”

_”What?_ ”

“Come on, I see how you two look at each other,” Champ sounded exasperated. “You can totally fuck her, I just want to be involved!”

“You’re disgusting, Champ,” Waverly said. Even though her mind was reeling about Champ’s comment. Was it true? Did Nicole look at her a “certain way”? Waverly couldn’t imagine she’d have been so blind and yet if Champ noticed something...

“Babe!” he tried to walk but tripped on his pants so he desperately reached for them. “Come on, Waves, we’re meant to be together. You know this. I know this.”

“I’ve outgrown you,” Waverly said softly. She shook her head and reached for the doorknob. “I’m sorry.”

She took one last look at Champ’s confused face before she left the cabin, dumping him into darkness and out of her life.

***

Champ stood in the dark of the cabin, dick literally in his hand and other hand trying to pull his pants back up. 

Waverly had...just broken up with him.

Again.

“Fuck!” he yelled into the empty cabin.

He growled to himself as he angrily pulled up his pants. This was definitely because of Nicole. That lesbo just kept staring at Waverly and probably didn’t want to be a threesome because she hated men.

“Fuck!” he yelled again.

Champ had to get Waverly back. He always did. But he had to get her back before Nicole got a hold of her. 

He patted his pockets for his phone then remembered he had set it up facing the bed, ready to record when he got Waverly on his dick. With a sigh, he walked over to grab it. As he walked past the bed, a long, sharp thing wrapped around his ankle, pain shooting up his leg and making him scream. He looked down and saw a long sickle buried into his ankle.

“What the fuck?!”

He tried to pull away but the sharp blade dug into him. Confused, he stumbled and screamed, sure he could see the shiny white bone under the gushing of blood that was filling his shoe and soaking his socks. There was another sharp pain in the back of his knee and he fell backwards, landing hard. The air got knocked out of him and he stared, dazed, at the ceiling for a moment. There was another sharp pain in his stomach and he felt the hot gush of blood without even looking down to see it. His hands gripped at his stomach and he felt the slippery gore of his intestines spilling from his body. Using the last of his strength, Champ looked over under the bed, and the last thing he saw were two glowing yellow eyes before a pain ripped through his chest and pulverized his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter has more spooky shenanigans when the gang makes a gruesome discovery and Nicole finally tells Waverly everything. Some drama, some scary times...all in chapter 3 which you can get early on my twitter.
> 
> [Come yell at me on Twitter if you're so inclined.](https://twitter.com/bootsncatz)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright ya'll. Who is on your bingo card to die next? Or does no one die? But also there might be some skinny dipping, so maybe no one has to die. Thank you Lucky for being the best beta and keeping it from going too gross.

Waverly breathed a sigh of relief, practically floating on the energy of being newly single. It was like shedding a heavy jacket on a hot day, and she couldn’t be happier. And, yes, maybe she was more than a little excited that Champ seemed to think that Nicole liked her too. Hopefully that meant her feelings were mutual and Nicole wouldn’t mind if Waverly ran her hands through her hair or kissed her.

Champ screamed in the cabin that was now far behind her, and she scoffed. He was always dramatic. He’d probably start walking back to the road just to really milk the situation. 

As she got closer to the cabin, she remembered Beth, and her smile turned to a pout. Nicole and Beth had been left in that cabin together too long in Waverly’s opinion. What if they were already-

Waverly ran a nervous hand through her hair and banished the thought. Or tried to anyway. She kept imagining Nicole on top of Beth, straddling her hips as she slowly peeled her top off. She was mad about the Beth part, but she would let herself think about Nicole taking her shirt off a little longer. Maybe it was a little dirty from the mechanic shop. Actually, she probably had her stupid dirty baseball cap on backwards like she always did when she was working, and a white tank top. Waverly imagined knocking the hat off her head and tugging her closer by the hair and-

“Boo!”

Waverly jumped what felt like ten feet in the air, automatically forming a fist and punching towards the person who’d jumped out at her. The figure choked.

“Waves,” Wynonna gritted out as she clutched at her throat. “What the fuck?”

“You scared me!” Waverly defended. “I’m sorry.”

“What were you daydreaming about anyway?” Wynonna asked, still frowning at her. She prodded gingerly at her neck. “Fuck that hurt.”

“I said I’m sorry!” Waverly blushed and folded her arms. “And nothing I was just-” Waverly looped her arm through Wynonna’s and turned her around so they could keep walking towards the cabin. “I broke up with Champ.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before Wynonna yelled in celebration, pumping her fist in the air. “Fuck yeah! For good this time, right?”

Waverly resented the question, but it wasn’t unfounded. “Yes. For good this time.”

“Thank god,” Wynonna sighed. “Glad I don’t have to deal with him the rest of the weekend. Let’s celebrate.”

On the edge of the lake Waverly saw the beginnings of a fire, the rest of the group around it. Waverly noticed Nicole sitting on her own away from the fire, thankfully no Beth around. She walked with Wynonna until they were close, then Wynonna ran the rest of the way and hugged Rosita around her middle from behind. Waverly watched as Rosita laughed in amusement, turning around in Wynonna’s arms and kissing her deeply. 

Waverly couldn’t help but smile watching Rosita jump on Wynonna’s back and forcing her to carry her around as she kept piling logs and old phone books into the fire. Mercedes and Beth were bickering about something as they threw more wood into the fire, and Waverly stopped by the log Nicole was sitting on. 

Nicole seemed distracted, eyes wide on the fire as it got bigger. She had a beer hanging from her hand, idly playing with the tab on the top with a long finger. Waverly felt her cheeks tint when Nicole’s tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth and she remembered the very vivid fantasy she had just had about Nicole taking her top off.

She cursed how her body felt flush and decided to talk to Nicole instead of staring at her like a creep and fantasizing.

“Can I join you?” Waverly asked softly. Nicole jumped slightly, some of her beer sloshing out of the can and onto her hand. Waverly smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t scared, just startled,” Nicole said with a crooked smile, one of her dimples popping. Waverly held back her swoon, thoughts of Champ long gone. Nicole scooted over a little bit on her log and patted the space next to her. “Join me.”

Waverly sat down next to Nicole as she rummaged around beside her, bringing out a new can of beer and holding it out for Waverly.

“Want one?” Nicole asked.

“Thank you,” Waverly said, purposefully brushing Nicole’s fingers with her own as she took the can. Nicole wiped her hands on the leg of her jeans before taking a long sip of the beer. Opening the can, Waverly took a sip to try and calm some of her nerves.

There was no reason for her to be nervous around Nicole, she’d known her for something like eight years now. She had always had a bit of a crush on her older sister’s best friend. She was just so _tall_ and sweet. Wynonna and Nicole were almost opposites, so it was a surprise they got along as well as they did. Nicole played basketball and Wynonna’s extracurriculars mostly consisted of detention, but somehow they clicked and never looked back. 

Waverly remembered hanging out with them, which mostly meant she read or watched them play video games while they got high and watched a stupid movie, or whatever trouble they decided to get into as teenagers. Nicole had never treated Waverly like the “little sister”, she treated her just as another friend despite their age differences. An age difference that had felt like a canyon when Waverly first developed her crush, but now it was hardly noticeable at all. Maybe Nicole didn’t feel the same. 

“Nicole! Come closer!” Beth called from besides the fire. Wynonna and Rosita were already making out and the fire was now almost as tall as Waverly if she had to guess. 

“Uh, I’m good!” Nicole called back with a wave. She took another sip of her beer and Waverly couldn’t help but send Beth a smug smile.

“Not a fan of fire?” Waverly asked, looking back at Nicole.

“Uh, not really,” Nicole shrugged. “I uh- I just prefer to be away from it. It gets hot and you know.”

Waverly watched Nicole take a long sip of her beer. “I didn’t know that about you.” Waverly felt embarrassment crash into her. “Not that I should know everything about- Just that I don’t know... I’ve known you forever I guess.”

Shaking her head and willing herself to stop talking, she took a small breath and smiled over at Nicole who had a teasing smile on her face. 

“Guess there’s a couple things you still don’t know about me, Waverly Earp,” Nicole said with a wink.

Waverly chuckled and raised her eyebrow at Nicole. “Don’t try to play the mysterious card with me, Nic, I remember your very brief _Twilight_ phase.”

Nicole turned a spectacular shade of red. “It was only because Kristen Stewart was hot! And look, I was right. Gay.”

“So tell me, Nicole Haught, what other secrets are you hiding from me?” Waverly flirted, bumping their shoulders together. It afforded her a chance to get a good whiff of the cologne Nicole wore. Something sweet that coated her tongue like sugar. Vanilla dipped donuts.

Nicole’s brow furrowed in thought, a serious look passing her face as she brushed her hand over the front of her shirt. She opened her mouth like she was about to say something but she shook her head. Nicole chuckled and looked down at her feet before looking back over at Waverly. 

“I can think of a couple,” Nicole said, voice low and eyes shining. Something about the mystery of the statement left Waverly leaning closer and waiting for more. Her breath caught in the back of her throat when brown eyes drank her in. The fire flickered in Nicole’s eyes and Waverly swore she saw gold in them. The taste of beer was bitter on her tongue but Waverly wanted to lean forward and kiss Nicole. She licked her lips and leaned a little closer, watching Nicole’s eyes flicker down to them. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and-

“Nicole!”

Their bubble popped as Beth came bouncing up to Nicole, some kind of fruity drink in her hand and cheeks red from the fire and alcohol. Waverly felt the loss of Nicole’s attention as she turned to look at Beth.

Beth reached for Nicole, taking her hand and trying to tug her up. “Come on, come sit with me.”

Her eyes flickered to Waverly who just gave her a death stare back. To her own delight, Nicole didn’t get up from the seat despite Beth pulling on her arm.

“I’m just going to stay back here for a little bit,” Nicole said to Beth. “I like it further away.”

Beth pouted, swinging Nicole’s arm between them. “Are you sure?”

“Maybe later,” Nicole said, delicately removing her hand from Beth’s grip. Beth seemed only vaguely satisfied with that but didn’t argue more. She gave Nicole a flirty smile as she turned around.

“I look forward to it.”

Nicole visibly let out a breath as Beth walked away and Waverly couldn’t help but prod.

“So, you and Beth,” she probed.

Nicole snorted. “There is no me and Beth. She’s sweet and obviously very pretty but I'm not interested.” Nicole tilted her head. “I did think about it for a second. I won’t lie.”

Waverly bit the side of her tongue to prevent herself from blurting that Nicole should think about her instead. She also wanted to tell Nicole she didn’t have to be _so_ honest all the time. 

“Where’s Champ?” Nicole asked, looking over her shoulder like he would pop up out of nowhere. He might, actually, Waverly wasn’t entirely sure if he’d decided to walk back to the Bus or not. 

“Oh, I’m not sure,” Waverly took a breath. Best to just get it over with. “We broke up.”

Nicole’s head jerked back towards Waverly, brown eyes wide. “What?”

Waverly tried not to smile too widely, but really, she was thrilled. “I broke up with him. Just now.”

She watched in amusement as Nicole’s face seemed to try and decide which emotion it should settle on. Happy, upset, concerned.

“Oh,” was all Nicole managed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Waverly assured her. “I’m relieved, actually. I’ve decided this is it this time. I’m not going to take him back again.”

Nicole smiled widely and Waverly’s heart fluttered.

“Well, then I’m happy for you,” Nicole said softly. “He’s a tool.”

Waverly beamed back at her. “Thank you.”

She scooted a little closer to Nicole on the log, purposefully brushing their arms together. Was it too soon after the breakup to flirt with Nicole? Definitely not. She took a sip of her beer for some liquid courage when Rosita waved towards them.

“Waves! Come here I found a book on the history of this place!” Rosita said as she sat down on a log next to Wynonna just a few feet from the fire. Waverly couldn’t help the gasp of excitement that left her lips. After all, a history of the area? What a goldmine. Especially when Waverly didn’t know anything about this part of the Ghost River Triangle. But she also didn’t want to leave Nicole sitting back here by herself.

“Come on, I’ll go up there too,” Nicole said, picking up the remaining beer cans that were still in their plastic ring and standing up. Waverly smiled up at her.

“I- are you sure?” she asked. 

Nicole smiled and Waverly was captivated. “Positive. Come on.”

Waverly cocked her head to the side and took another drink from her can as Nicole stood up. They went over to the fire and sat down on the log across from Mercedes, Wynonna and Rosita. The fire jumped between them and Waverly noticed Nicole eyeing the flames nervously. 

Beth came out of nowhere and sat on the other side of Nicole, bright smile on her face and thirst apparent in the way that she looked over Nicole. Waverly wanted to push her off the log, but she just stared at the oblivious girl instead. There was a drunk sway to her body and her eyes were a little glazed, so Waverly wasn’t surprised when Beth fully leaned her front into the side of Nicole’s arm. She whispered something in Nicole’s ear and Waverly swore she saw red. Nicole’s cheeks tinted as Beth pulled away and Waverly wished she could blame the fire.

“Alright everyone, my baby is talkin’,” Wynonna slurred. Waverly frowned at her. How was she already trashed?

Wynonna stood up, unscrewing her flask as she walked around the fire towards them. Rosita, unbothered by Wynonna, waved the book cover towards Waverly.

“I found this in the main cabin,” she said. “Listen to this. Apparently a lot of fucked up shit happened in this area.”

“Don’t read anything that’ll mean I can’t sleep here tonight,” Mercedes warned. “I have a delicate disposition.”

Wynonna snorted as she shoved the flask into Nicole’s face. Waverly watched smugly as Nicole carefully removed Beth from her side and took the flask. She took a long gulp and Waverly grabbed it before Wynonna could take it back, taking her own gulp. The cheap whiskey burned her throat and she coughed.

“Well, in 1878 there was a husband and wife that moved into a house here on the lake, which apparently used to have a way more racist name I will _not_ be repeating,” Rosita mumbled and turned the page of her book. “The couple was very private, kept to themselves, but something felt off so the townspeople spied on the husband one day and turns out it was a woman in men’s clothing.” Waverly felt Nicole twitch besides her. “Of course, they said it was an abomination for them to be acting like husband and wife. And to make it worse, they were legally sisters because they’d both been adopted by the woman they worked for before they turned eighteen. So of course the town went mad and they trapped them in their cabin and burned it down.”

Waverly shivered and Nicole immediately turned to look at her. 

“Are you cold?” Nicole asked quietly. “Want me to get you a jacket?”

“Hm? No, I’m fine,” Waverly said. Then she noticed Beth looking at them and snuggled closer to Nicole. She looked up at her through her lashes and smiled. “This is enough.”

“Then I guess the town started calling this Twin Lake,” Rosita said, looking briefly at the water. “Where do you think their cabin was?”

Waverly instinctively looked down at her feet as if she could see the scars from a hundred year old hate crime still under her feet.

“That’s fucked up,” Wynonna said, staring at the fire from where she stood. 

“Real fucked up,” Mercedes agreed.

Waverly looked out at the lake and how the moon reflected off of the surface. It really was a beautiful night with the way the stars hung in the sky. She felt Nicole’s hand cover her own, bringing her attention back to her. There was a little wrinkle of worry between her eyebrows and Waverly smiled. She squeezed her hand and turned back to Rosita, who was still flipping through the book.

“There’s also this story about some fucking asshole named Clyde Burghman-”

“Is this story going to make me sad?” Beth pouted.

“Very,” Rosita said.

“Okay, no more scary stories,” Beth said as she finished her drink. 

Wynonna took another long swig from her flask and winked over at Nicole. “Remember what we used to do. In high school. In the woods.”

Nicole sputtered and Waverly’s eyes got wide with worry. Did they-?

“Come on, for old time sake,” Wynonna said.

“No way, Wynonna,” Nicole shook her head.

“Come oooon, just once!”

“No.”

“Fine, I’ll do it without you.”

“Please don’-

Wynonna tilted her head back and howled to the sky. Nicole sighed, embarrassed, and hung her head. Waverly raised an eyebrow at Nicole, and she explained.

“Uh, Wynonna and I used to try and scare campers in the forest,” Nicole smiled crookedly. “Sometimes the Girl Guide trips too.”

Waverly gasped incredulously. “You didn’t! The trips I was on?” Nicole’s awkward smile said everything Waverly needed to know. “That was mean!”

“It was kinda funny,” Nicole smirked just as Wynonna whooped and spit some of her whiskey on the fire. The flames flared, and Waverly felt Nicole jump next to her.

“Fire really brings out people’s baser instincts, huh?” Waverly snipped. She noticed Nicole picking at the skin of her thumb nervously and leaned closer to her. “Want to go for a walk?”

Nicole’s eyes were wide like saucers as she stared at the fire and Waverly nudged her lightly. Brown eyes blinked rapidly and looked over at Waverly, throat flexing with a swallow.

“What? Sorry,” Nicole said.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Waverly gave her arm a little tug and stood up.

Nicole nodded and stood up with Waverly. She chanced a look back to make sure no one was following them and looped her arm with Nicole’s, body feeling warm as they wandered closer to the water.

***

Wynonna watched through bleary eyes as Waverly and Nicole wandered away from the fire towards the lake. Soon they became just barely visible silhouettes in the night. She blinked over to see Beth watching on mournfully. Poor thing. Never stood a chance with Haught Pants and Waverly making gay-ass googly eyes at each other. 

She had hoped that Nicole would finally suck it up and make a move on Waverly. She tried not to gag at the thought, but Wynonna trusted Nicole would take care of Waverly and that was more than she could say for Chump. 

Turning back towards Rosita, Wynonna caught her eyes over the fire and smiled. Rosita winked back and Wynonna wandered over behind her and Mercedes. Slinging her arms around their shoulders as she crouched behind them, Wynonna leaned her cheek against Rosita’s with a hum.

“You ladies wanna go find somewhere to be alone?” Wynonna said lowly, already feeling the pull of arousal deep in her belly. 

“You two warm each other up for me, I’ll help Beth put the fire out,” Mercedes smirked.

Wynonna pulled Rosita up from the log by her hand and pecked her lips. “Sounds good to me,” Wynonna looked over towards the cabins. She pointed at the counselor cabin she’d seen Champ eyeing earlier. “We’ll be in there.”

“Alright.” Mercedes stood up and pulled Wynonna into a long kiss. She sighed against her soft lips, feeling her long fingers dip into the waistband of her pants. “Don’t have _too_ much fun without me.”

Wynonna smirked against her lips. “No promises.”

Mercedes bit at her lips before pulling away with a smirk. Wynonna watched, eyes on her ass as she walked away. Rosita slipped her hand in the back pocket of Wynonna’s pants. 

“Come on,” Rosita said, squeezing her ass. 

Wynonna certainly didn’t need to be told twice. She looped her arm around Rosita’s shoulders and they began walking towards the counselor cabin. It got harder to see as they got further away from the campfire and a chill went through the air. Rosita got closer to Wynonna’s side and she kissed the side of her head. 

“This trip is already the best ever,” Wynonna sighed against her hair. Rosita hummed.

“You’re just happy to be getting laid.”

“Ex _act_ ly. I’m easy to please,” Wynonna said.

They got to the door of the cabin and Wynonna grabbed Rosita by the hips, spinning her and pressing her into the door before kissing her. Rosita moaned against her lips, hands cupping either side of her neck as Wynonna’s hands slipped up her shirt, feeling her warm skin under her palms. 

Wynonna blindly reached for the doorknob, turning it slowly and gently walking Rosita back into the cabin. Their lips never parted and Wynonna closed the cabin door behind them. She leaned back against the door and pulled Rosita between her legs fully. She could feel all of Rosita’s curves against her and moaned just as Rosita slipped her tongue into her mouth. Wynonna’s hands slipped back under Rosita’s shirt, running up the firm plane of her back and coming back to grab her firm ass and pull her more into her front.

Rosita’s head tipped back in a moan and Wynonna dragged her lips over the soft vulnerable skin of her throat. She bit at the base of her throat just as Rosita breathed, “ _God_ , I love you.”

Wynonna was so shocked she froze completely. Did Rosita just say that she… _loved_ her? Well. Fuck. This was-

Fuck.

Her mind went a thousand miles a minute. Rosita loved her. Okay. She could work with that. Just don’t say anything. But girls usually expected you to say something after that.

 _Fuck_.

Did Wynonna love Rosita? Sure. She thought she did. Didn’t mean she didn’t analyze her feelings every few days or so, because what if she was wrong? What was love, anyways? Sometimes she considered herself far too cynical and unlucky to consider love to be a real thing, but times like now when she was just overwhelmed by her feelings for Rosita, the only word that seemed good enough was...love.

Rosita moved her head to look down at Wynonna who was sure she looked shocked as hell. Instead she forced a grin onto her face and all her complicated feelings into a tiny little box she could unpack later. 

Rosita brushed her fingers along Wynonna’s hairline, offering her an understanding smile as she brushed some strands of hair tenderly away from her face. 

“You don’t have to say anything back,” Rosita whispered. Wynonna felt the stress drain from her body and her shoulders slump. Rosita kissed the end of Wynonna’s nose before kissing her deeply once more, whispering against her lips, “I know.”

Wynonna drew Rosita close, trying to communicate every impossible feeling that she felt in her chest when she looked at Rosita. She pressed her hips into Wynonna’s center, and she knew she needed Rosita right then. There would be no waiting for Mercedes, she’d have to tap in on round two. After a peek over Rosita’s shoulder to spot the bed against the wall, Wynonna slowly walked her back towards the bed. 

Their hands clawed at each other, pulling at clothes and skin as they kissed. But suddenly Rosita was gone.

Wynonna frowned and opened her eyes, blinking in the dark for a sign of Rosita. And when she looked down to where she might have fallen, she screamed.

***

Arm firmly in Waverly’s, Nicole was sure they were about to have a heart attack. 

Waverly had broken up with Champ. Something that they were trying not to get too excited about. After all, she broke up just a few minutes ago, literally, and there still wasn’t any proof that Waverly was interested in Nicole at all. But Waverly’s thumb brushed along the inside of Nicole’s elbow and it felt like every nerve in their body was on high alert. 

Nicole was painfully aware of every point at which their bodies were touching, even if it was mostly their arms at this point. Once in a while Nicole’s arm would brush along the soft side of Waverly’s breast and their heart rate spiked worryingly. 

“It’s nice out tonight,” Waverly said. 

Waverly looked up at the sky but Nicole looked down into her eyes, because they preferred the way the stars looked reflected among hazel pools.

“It is,” Nic said softly, quickly looking back at the lake. The water was dark and inky, the surface smooth like glass. The full moon reflected almost perfectly in the middle of it. Nicole might call it beautiful if it wasn’t for the looming forest all around them. Some of the uneasiness they felt in the forest and on The Last Road had faded a little in the time they were at the camp, but it still lingered in the back of their mind. It was as if the danger was all around in the shadows just beyond where the moon shed its light.

Waverly stopped at the edge of the lake, Nicole stopping abruptly next to her. Waverly sat down in the grass and Nicole sat next to her, knees bent and legs flopped open a little bit. Their leg fell a little over Waverly’s and they went to move it but Waverly’s hand on their knee stopped them. 

Nicole licked their lips nervously and just leaned back on their palms as they tried to appear unaffected. 

Nicole thought about Waverly’s question earlier, about secrets. The confession had been right on the edge of their tongue. After everything with Wynonna went so well, Nicole was eager to just tell more people they were non-binary to really rip the bandaid off. After all, it would be harder to keep a secret if they didn’t, right? 

But Waverly had looked at her with big eyes like maybe she could be interested in more than friendship, and the words froze in their throat. Even if their doubt chased away that little glimmer of hope a moment later.

Nicole drew in a breath. They should just tell her. They’d already told Wynonna, Waverly would react the same way. Probably. Hopefully. Clearing their throat, Nicole turned to Waverly.

“Waves, I-”

“Nicole-”

They spoke at the same time, both freezing when the other started to talk. Blushes on their cheeks, they both chuckled awkwardly.

Nicole spoke quickly. “You go first.”

“I- okay,” Waverly said with a nervous smile. Nicole was more than happy to put off their confession for a few more seconds. “I um, just wanted-.” Waverly looked down for a moment and Nicole covered the hand over their knee with their own, offering silent encouragement. “I wanted to tell you that...part of the reason I broke up with Champ was because-”

Nicole held their breath, hands itching to adjust the tight sports bra around their ribs but not daring to move. Hope was a silly thing. Small and easily controlled until even a single drop of possibility landed on it and made it grow into a tree in seconds. Hope reached up and grabbed Nicole by the throat, their heart pounding so hard they could hear the blood pumping through their ears.

Waverly looked up at Nicole and suddenly stood up. “Let’s go swimming.”

Nicole blinked at the spot where Waverly had once sat, still reeling from whatever Waverly was about to say. They looked up just to see Waverly pulling her shirt over her head, looking out at the lake.

“Uh-” Nicole said, brain firing off a thousand different signals as their eyes took in the toned muscle of Waverly’s back, and how the moon reflected in every dip and curve over her golden skin. Mouth dry, Nicole just blinked up at Waverly. “Right...now? In the lake?”

“Yeah,” Waverly turned and smiled at Nicole just as she popped open the button on her shorts and shimmied them down her hips. Nicole nearly choked as lilac lace came into view, panties low on Waverly’s hips. “It’ll be fun.”

“I’m not a strong swimmer,” Nicole said dumbly. They tried to keep their eyes firmly on Waverly’s face but it was proving more difficult than they would have imagined.

“Really? You spent nearly every day at the pool that year I was a lifeguard. I thought you liked swimming,” Waverly said, as she pulled her long hair up into a messy bun.

Nicole remembered that summer very well. It was the first summer Nicole realized they had a huge gay crush on Waverly and the same year she had gotten that job as a lifeguard at the pool. Nicole pretended they were being supportive and just hanging out, but most of the time they had just been trying to dig up the courage to ask Waverly out. Turned out the red lifeguard swimsuit against Waverly’s sunkissed skin was very distracting.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Waverly shrugged, hands on her hips as she looked out at the water. She looked back at Nicole with a small smile. “I’d like it if you joined me though.”

As if Nicole wouldn’t do _anything_ for Waverly Earp. Even braving a probably cold and very scary lake.

“Okay fine,” Nicole smiled as they stood up. Waverly squealed in delight and hugged Nicole briefly around the middle before turning back towards the lake. A wicked grin flitted across her lips and she turned to look at Nicole again.

“What about skinny dipping?”

_”What?”_

Without another word, Waverly reached behind her back and undid her bra. The clasps sprung apart and Nicole watched Waverly’s back helplessly as she pulled the bra down her and tossed it away with the rest of her clothing. Waverly walked towards the water, dipping her toe in with a hum. Nicole was hyper aware of the gentle curve of the side of Waverly’s breast in the moonlight.

“It’s not bad!” she called back to Nicole who was just standing in shock. Waverly pushed her underwear down her legs and kicked them off, the lilac material lying on the ground as Waverly waded into the water. As the water reached above her breasts, Waverly turned around with a wide smile. “Come on!”

Nicole was dumb, but they weren’t _stupid_. The girl of their dreams was naked in a lake and calling for them to join her. With the inky darkness of the lake reflecting the stars, it looked like Waverly was floating in the sky amongst them. Nicole didn’t waste any more time. They quickly pulled their shirt over their head and undid their jeans. Pushing their jeans down their legs, they nervously considered their second move. 

With this whole “gender coping” thing they were going through, they found it hard to be totally naked. If they were totally naked, it was just them, none of the little things they had done to try and make themselves feel more at home in their body. No binding, no jeans that hid the curve of their hips, just...them.

They looked down at the sports bra and tight boxers hugging their frame. They felt comfortable like this. Looking back up at Waverly, they saw her lip pulled between her teeth and something in hazel eyes Nicole hadn’t noticed before. They hesitated to define it but it looked like...desire.

That was all the confidence boost they needed. Nicole quickly pulled their sports bra over their head before they lost their nerve, cheeks burning as they hooked their thumbs into the thick elastic waistband of their underwear and pulled them down their legs. Kicking them off and out of the way, Nicole quickly waded into the water. The first touch of the water to their skin was lukewarm, sending goosebumps erupting over their body, but they ignored it and pushed on anyways. The sooner they were in the lake, the sooner their body would be hidden. 

Nicole dunked their head under the water just to get it over with, swimming towards Waverly until they came up for air right in front of her. They could only see her vague outline under the water and smiled as they breached the surface, red hair plastered down to their face.

Waverly laughed, their legs bumping as they treaded water close to each other. Nicole could barely feel the bottom with their toes, but only if they let the water come up to their neck. So they remained treading water, blinking some water from their eyes. 

“Alright, now what?” Nicole said, trying to get their mind off of the fact that Waverly was a mere foot away, and completely naked. 

“Now we just-” Waverly shrugged. “-swim.”

“Okay,” Nicole smiled. They just floated for a minute, looking back at the shore where the fire was still going strong. “What do you think they’re doing over there? Getting into trouble?”

Nicole looked back at Waverly who was just staring back at them, brow furrowed in concern. 

“What?” Nicole asked softly, smile fading as they tried to read Waverly’s face. “Are you okay-”

Without warning, Waverly surged forward, arms wrapping around Nicole’s neck and their lips connecting in a bruising kiss. Nicole hummed, still confused as to what was happening. They acted on instinct, hands on Waverly’s waist as they slowly pulled away from her.

“Waves, wha-” Nicole blinked at Waverly, their faces close and making it hard to pause what was happening. “I just- Champ. You just-”

Waverly shook her head, taking a gulping breath. “I like you,” Waverly said softly, eyes flickering down to Nicole’s lips. “A lot. I broke up with Champ because I-. Well I realized I had feelings for you that were way more intense than they were for him.”

“I- oh.” Nicole said simply.

They could see Waverly’s blush even in the pale light. “I’m sorry, I thought you-. Oh, balls, I’m sorry.”

Waverly tried to pull away but Nicole’s grip on her waist tightened. They were afraid to fully pull Waverly’s body against theirs, very much aware of the lack of clothing between them. Nicole quickly shook their head. 

“No, no, Waverly, I like you too,” Nicole said quickly. “A lot, actually.”

Waverly’s eyes brightened. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Nicole chuckled, daring to bring Waverly just a little closer. They could feel the water moving from Waverly’s measured breaths, soft skin brushing against their breasts that they didn’t want to think too hard on. 

That was all Waverly seemed to need. Her arms were back around Nicole’s neck, clearly not caring about skin to skin contact the way Nicole did as their bodies collided with the action. Soft, water-slicked skin pressed against her own as their lips came together in a desperate kiss.

Nicole fully wrapped their arms around Waverly, feeling the curve of her breasts against their own and the undeniable scratch of thick curls against Nicole’s stomach. 

Their heart soared as their lips moved together, brain still unable to get over the fact that Waverly was kissing them. Her lips were just as soft as Nicole imagined, all of her skin was. Nicole’s hands slipped up Waverly’s back and between her shoulder blades, their nails lightly scratching at her skin as they sucked her lip between their teeth. 

Their heartbeat felt like a heavy bass in their ears, pounding and rushing and making their heart thud to an unknown beat in their chest. Their blood felt like electricity in their veins, every nerve on edge as their skin fired off signals to their brain of every place Waverly’s body was touching their own. The soft plane of her stomach pressed against Nicole’s, hard points of her nipples pressed just below Nicole’s chest. They were sure if they both sunk below the surface of the water it wouldn’t matter, all they needed was each other’s breath to keep them alive. 

Nicole felt Waverly’s hand cup their neck as she sighed against their lips, tongue flitting out to trace Nicole’s bottom lip. They began to drift back to where they could stand on the lake floor, lips never parting from Waverly’s as Waverly’s tongue brushed along the roof of their mouth.

Waverly’s hand that wasn’t on their neck gripped onto wet red hair at the base of Nicole’s skull and made them moan softly. Their hands felt bold and drifted down Waverly’s side and over the swell of her ass, grabbing the back of her thigh. Waverly’s legs easily found their way around Nicole’s hips and they gasped. They could feel the heat coming from between Waverly’s thighs, and it made them dizzy. The way their skin slid together in the easy glide of the water sent a pulse of want to Nicole’s core. They deepened the kiss, mind fixated on how if they just pushed their hips out a little they would feel the soft heated folds at the apex of Waverly’s thighs on their stomach. 

Their skin crawled with want and they pulled Waverly’s bottom lip between their teeth, tongue flicking over the swollen flesh before releasing it just as Waverly moaned. 

Still, there was the nagging at the back of Nic’s brain, telling them to slow things down. There was more to tell Waverly before this went where they desperately wanted it to. They wanted to be completely honest with Waverly in this moment where they were floating among the stars as they reflected off of the lake. Nicole pulled away with a gulping breath, pressing their forehead to Waverly’s. 

Waverly’s fingers tightened against their neck like she was trying to pull them back in, so Nicole pressed one last lingering kiss to her lips before they pulled away again. They breathed each other’s air, noses brushing together lightly. When Nicole opened their eyes, they saw water glistening on the ends of Waverly’s eyelashes like diamonds and had to kiss her again. 

“Waves,” Nicole said softly. “I want to tell you something.”

Waverly’s eyes sparkled and they kept darting down to Nicole’s lips. She was making it really difficult not to kiss her, especially with how her tongue poked out to wet her lips. 

“Okay,” Waverly said.

Nicole licked their lips nervously and decided just to go for it. “Waverly. I’m non-binary.”

Waverly blinked at her a few moments before her head moved back a little in shock. Nicole’s body stiffened nervously as Waverly’s face frowned in confusion before she closed her eyes and shook her head. 

“Wait-” Waverly looked back at Nicole, face unreadable as Nicole braced herself for the worst. “You’re-. Oh. O-okay.”

“Yeah, I just thought you should know,” Nicole blurted, wishing they could take it back and not divulge such personal information when they were naked. Especially when such information could get them rejected painfully, like it felt like was currently happening. They dropped their hands from Waverly’s hips and cleared their throat. Maybe they could play this off, even as a ball of emotion lodged itself in their throat and strained their voice. “Sorry I didn’t tell you before-. And then we-. I get it if you don’t want-.” Nicole tried to step away from Waverly but her legs were still around their waist. “Sorry.”

Nicole really wanted to just go off into the woods and cry in peace.

It felt like their entire body was aching from the rejection, muscles twitching to run.

Waverly frowned and opened her mouth like she was about to say something when there was a blood curdling scream from somewhere on the shore. Both of their heads turned but the fire had been put out and all they could make out were two vague outlines where the fire had been.

There was a second scream and Waverly started towards the shore quickly. 

“The first one was Wynonna,” she said, voice shaking with panic. “I have to go- We have to go.”

Nicole was behind her in an instant. They rushed through the water, annoyed at how their movements were slowed with the water. When they finally got to the shore, Waverly quickly pulled on her shorts, leaving her underwear on the ground as she picked up her bra, shirt and shoes. Waverly ran towards the fire and Nicole hurried as best they could, pulling on their boxers and sports bra. There was no way they were getting their jeans on with the water slicking their skin. They picked up Waverly’s underwear without thinking, shoving it in the pocket of their jeans along with their socks before grabbing their shirt and shoes as well, running after Waverly. Somehow, Waverly slipped on her bra and shirt while she was running but Nicole could only barely manage to slip on their shoes.

They caught up with her and found Mercedes and Beth standing near the remnants of the fire looking terrified. 

“Where did Wynonna go?” Waverly asked. “And Rosita? Where are they?”

“They were going to the counselor cabins.” Mercedes looked towards the cabins and Waverly took off, Nicole close behind. 

Waverly burst through the door first and Nicole followed close behind. When Waverly stopped abruptly, Nicole ran into her back with a grunt. They looked over her shoulder and saw what she was staring at. On the ground was the mess of meat and bone that used to be Champ Hardy.

One of his ankles was barely hanging to the rest of his leg by a flap of flesh, the foot hinged and sticking out at a weird angle. His stomach was ripped open with his intestines snaking out of the bloody cavity like worms reaching from the dirt. His ribs were snapped open, pearly white bone reaching from the red, grisled flesh and dripping gore. His chest was a stew of blood and chunks of his flesh floating where his lungs and heart used to be. His mouth was twisted open in a scream and eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, face twisted in ugly horror. 

Waverly sobbed and Nicole was brought back into the present. That’s when the smell hit. Nicole held their bundled up shirt over their mouth and nose to try and block out the smell as they pulled Waverly into their chest with the other arm. She spun around and hid her face in Nicole’s neck, body shaking and heaving.

“What the fuck?” Nicole breathed, looking up at Wynonna and Rosita who were standing on the other side of the body, faces pale with terror.

Wynonna shook her head, looking up at Nicole. It was then she noticed Rosita’s shoes had blood all over them and some on her leg like she’d fallen onto the body. 

“I don’t know, dude, w-we came in here and then Rosita _tripped_ on him,” Wynonna ran a shaky hand through her hair and blinked. “What the _fuck_!”

Nicole heard Mercedes and Beth running up behind them and quickly pulled Waverly out of the cabin, stopping the two before they could get inside. They brought the shirt down from their face and Waverly clung onto them.

“Don’t go in there,” Nicole said firmly. “Champ is-” They held back a gag, but they could feel the sick at the base of their throat. “Don’t go in there. But stay here and stay together.”

“Where are you going?” Beth asked, eyes like saucers.

“I just want to take a look around,” Nicole said. Waverly clung tighter to Nicole and they felt the warmth of tears on their collarbone. Nicole rubbed her back lightly. “I’ll be right back, stay here.”

Waverly almost immediately straightened up. Her nose was red and there were tears swimming in her eyes. “I want to go in with you.”

“What? No, Waves, don’t make yourself,” Nicole said softly. “I’ll let you know if I see anything weird, okay?”

Waverly looked like she was about to fight it but just nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. Nicole put the shirt back over their face and slipped back into the cabin where Wynonna was helping Rosita navigate around the gore in the tight space.

“You just walked in and he was dead?” Nicole asked. They pulled their phone from the jeans they were still clutching, and turned on the flashlight. They shined it around the body, trying not to look at it directly, for a sign of anything. But there was nothing. No footprints or paw prints, no real sign of a struggle. Nothing. 

“Yeah, well, I certainly didn’t do it myself,” Wynonna said flatly. “Even though I dreamed about it. But I would have just taken his dick and been done with it. This is all a bit showy.”

“Just shut up for a few minutes, baby,” Rosita sighed, brushing her fingers lightly over Wynonna’s lips. “Cállate, hermosa.”

“Maybe-...I mean it looks like an animal, right?” Nicole said. “How could a human do this?”

“It has to be one sick fucking animal,” Rosita said. She took one last glance at the body and looked like she was going to be sick. “Let’s get out of here. I’m gonna hurl.”

They all quickly pushed out of the cabin where everyone else was standing. 

“What happened to him?” Mercedes asked.

Nic shrugged and exchanged a look with Wynonna. “Animal we think.”

“Well, what should we do? We shouldn’t be standing out in the open, right?” Beth’s eyes were darting all around the place like a frightened mouse. Waverly naturally gravitated back into Nicole’s arms and even though the sting of her earlier rejection made every point of contact between them and Waverly painful, they held her close and hoped that she couldn’t tell how broken their heart was just from the beat. Her head rested on Nicole’s chest and arms around their middle.

“We can’t walk back to the van in the dark,” Waverly said. “It’s probably best if we stay until the morning.” 

“With some kind of demon bear or coyotes or some shit running around?” Mercedes said.

“Waverly’s right,” Nicole said, looking around them as if whatever had gotten to Champ might be lurking just beyond the trees. “Let’s go back to the cabin where our stuff is.”

“I agree,” Wynonna said.

“Me too,” Rosita said.

Nicole took Waverly’s hand and they all started back towards the cabin in a tight pack. They were silent as they walked, everyone nervously looking around as they walked. The camp was unnervingly quiet around them and Nicole wasn’t sure if that was more worrisome than if they had heard some hints of movement just beyond the trees. 

It was almost impressive how quickly Nicole’s night went from amazing, to terrible, to even worse. Nicole had wished Champ was out of the way for a long time now, but they didn’t imagine it would happen this way. Just Waverly staying broken up with him would have been enough. Nicole’s stomach ached from more than the gruesome display they had just witnessed. Waverly rejection really cut deep and made Nicole question everything. Maybe they should have just kept it to themselves. At least for a little longer.

Waverly clinging to them seemed to make everything hurt just that much more. Waverly could find comfort in them, but not kiss them apparently. 

_Snap!_

Nicole jumped, pushing Waverly behind them as they turned quickly towards the source of the sound, ready to fight whatever was coming with their bare hands. Instead they just saw Wynonna standing awkwardly, foot hovering off the ground and blue eyes wide.

“I stepped on a stick,” Wynonna hissed. “Don’t be so jumpy.”

“Don’t be so jumpy?” Nicole whispered incredulously, afraid to talk too loud in case it might attract whatever was out there to them. “Champ was just _eviscerated_ by some mysterious creature!” 

Waverly let out a choked sob and Nicole’s shoulders slumped as they turned back around to her. She fell into their arms and Nicole hushed her softly, rubbing her back. 

“Just watch where you’re going,” Nicole whispered back to Wynonna as they started walking again.

When they got to the cabin, Nicole distanced themselves from Waverly as best they could. Thankfully, Wynonna pulled Waverly into her arms, so Nicole took a moment just to breathe.

The moon was still streaming through the windows and doing just enough to light the cabin. Nicole went to their bag and got out a pocket knife they kept in there. The blade was about the length of their palm, the handle a warm and well known wood with pearl. Mercedes kept looking down at her phone and cursing, probably hoping for a signal. Waverly was sniffling and wiping at her eyes, Wynonna holding her tight.

“I know there’s a lot going on here, but Haught, why are you in your underwear?” Wynonna asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Nicole blushed as they looked down, remembering they were walking around in their boxers and a sports bra. “Oh, uh, we were swimming.”

“Naked?”

Nicole and Waverly ignored her. They grabbed their clothes before Wynonna could make any more comments. As they were slipping their shirt back on, Beth slid up to them, eyes rimmed red with tears.

“I’m scared,” Beth said softly. Nicole felt sympathy take over and they tried to give Beth a reassuring smile.

“We’ll be fine. We’ll just stay in here until morning and we’ll go get help,” Nicole assured her.

“I just can’t believe-” Beth looked away and wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

“I know, me either,” Nicole said, looking down at their hands. 

“Poor Waverly.”

“Yeah,” Nicole said glumly. They scooted back on the bed so that their back was against the wall. The air in the cabin was thick, fear so palpable that Nicole could practically taste it. Bitter and salty. A symphony of sniffles echoed through the wood walls as they all mourned quietly, too afraid to make their presence known. No one really liked Champ, but he didn’t deserve this. There were few people who did. 

They all listened carefully for every sound around the cabin. Every firm gust of wind or rustling among the leaves outside sounded like a potential threat. 

Nicole kept their knife open by their side, ready to use it if they needed to. It was small, but it could at least do some damage. 

Their heart hammered against their ribs and they swallowed thickly, sure that the sound was so loud it would draw whatever had gotten Champ to them. Everyone seemed to be breathing as quietly as possible, worried about disturbing the silence that had settled around them.

At one point Mercedes sneezed and everyone jumped about a mile in the air. She sniffled demurely, dabbing her nose with her sleeve.

Beth was curled into Nicole’s side and Wynonna sat staring blankly at the wall on a bed across from them, Rosita on one side of her and Waverly on the other, Mercedes sitting on the either side of Rosita with her legs on Rosita’s lap. Waverly kept furiously wiping at her cheeks and Nicole wished they could reach out and comfort her, but they were sure that was the last thing that Waverly wanted.

They all sat in silence for what felt like hours until Waverly finally shifted. Her sobs had long subsided into tears and she sat more on the edge of the bed. She got up and walked over to the other end of the cabin that had some darkness cast over the bed.

“Nicole,” Waverly said softly. Nicole’s attention was automatically on her, all other thoughts forgotten. They wondered if they’d ever not come running when Waverly called. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Nicole nodded, standing up without thinking. It looked like Wynonna was helping Rosita clean the blood off of her leg and Waverly was sitting on one of the bunkbeds towards the other side of the cabin. 

“I’ll be right back,” Nicole said to Beth. She looked a little horrified, but Mercedes sat down next to her and Nicole felt okay about leaving her for now. Part of them felt like they should avoid Waverly. Their heart felt like the bloody mess in Champ’s chest and they weren’t sure they could take any more pain tonight. Nicole was pretty sure Waverly had said everything she needed to say after Nicole’s confession anyway, but with hazel eyes watery and clearly in pain Nicole knew they couldn’t ignore her.

Nicole dragged their feet a little as they made their way over to Waverly, making sure to put some space between them as they sat on the bed next to Waverly. The old mattress creaked under their weight and they clutched the edges of the bed nervously.

“Are you okay?” Nicole quickly shook their head. “Sorry, that’s a stupid question.”

Waverly chuckled darkly. “Selfishly, I feel guilty for breaking up with him right before-”

A small sob choked Waverly’s throat and Nicole couldn’t help reaching out, wrapping their arm around her shoulders. Nicole went into the back pocket of their jeans to get their handkerchief and was a little confused when they pulled out soft lilac material instead.

“Uh-” When Nicole remembered it was Waverly’s underwear, their entire face flushed bright red and they dropped them on Waverly’s lap. “Oh, um, those’re yours. Sorry.” Nicole dug in the other pocket and got their handkerchief instead, handing it to Waverly. “Here.”

Waverly sniffled and took the handkerchief, dabbing the corners of her eyes with it. 

“Don’t feel guilty, Waves,” Nicole assured her. “You couldn’t have known.”

Waverly shook her head and twisted a little more towards Nicole, reaching for their hand. Nicole’s heart betrayed them by jumping at the touch, their lips distinctly remembering what Waverly tasted like. What she felt like under their hands.

“No, let me finish,” Waverly sighed. “My first thought after I saw-...was that he was still mad at me when he was attacked. I’m selfish, and my response to you sharing your gender with me was selfish.”

Nicole’s heart leapt to their throat hopefully, but they tried to clamp it down. 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to-” Nicole took a deep breath and resisted the need to run from this conversation. “I get it if you don’t want to- If you're not still attracted to me. Or whatever-”

“Oh, sweetie, no,” Waverly said softly, rubbing her thumb over the back of their hand. Nicole felt that stubborn hope fill their chest again. “My first thought after you told me was wondering how long you had known without telling me, and who else you told before you told me,” Waverly admitted. “I want to apologize because I responded terribly, but just know it had nothing to do with you. I very much-” Waverly blushed. “I really liked what we were doing before I made an ass out of myself. And I want to say that if you’ll forgive me, I want to keep...doing those things. With you.”

Nicole blinked back at her dumbly. It felt weird to feel any sort of happiness in this situation, but they couldn’t help how their stomach flipped and body ached to lean forward and kiss Waverly again. Though they figured kissing a girl right after her boyfriend died really was frowned upon.

“Oh.”

“So, let’s start over,” Waverly said with a small smile. “You just told me you were non-binary.”

Nicole just looked blankly at Waverly who looked back at them expectantly. So they just nodded wordlessly.

“Thank you for sharing with me,” Waverly said, pulling Nicole’s hand onto her lap. “Are you using different pronouns too?”

“They,” Nicole clarified, still unsure of how they should feel.

“Great,” Waverly smiled widely despite the tear tracks running down her cheeks. “Do you-. Do you forgive me, Nic?”

Nicole cleared their throat and couldn’t keep the smile off of their face. “Yeah. I forgive you.”

Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck and hugged her tight. Nicole wrapped their arms around Waverly’s waist and held her close. They could smell her shampoo and breathed it in, soft and delicate. Lavender. Waverly’s fingers cupped the side of Nicole’s face and she pulled away, keeping their faces close. Waverly’s eyes darted down to Nicole’s lips and their breath caught in their throat. 

“Waves-”

“Just kiss me,” Waverly pleaded, voice soft and broken. “Please.”

Nicole would never leave a lady waiting. They leaned forward and kissed Waverly gently, holding her and keeping her close. Everything felt right again when Nicole’s lips brushed against Waverly’s. Their heart felt light again and happiness lit up their soul in a way they never thought possible. 

Yes, this was a terrifying and shitty situation, but with Waverly in their arms, Nicole was sure they could take on the world. They felt _free_ , no more secrets holding them down and weighing on them.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Beth announced loudly. 

Nicole chuckled and pulled away from Waverly who just placed more soft kisses on Nicole’s lips and face like she couldn’t keep her lips away for too long. _God_ , was it fucked up to be happy when Waverly’s ex-boyfriend was lying dead in a nearby cabin?

“Can’t you just go in a corner or something?” Wynonna said from the other side of the cabin. Nicole pecked Waverly’s lips one last time and looked over to where Beth was sitting with her legs tightly crossed.

“Girls don’t pee in public,” Beth scoffed. “Aren’t the bathrooms right next door? Can just someone go with me? Please.”

“We’ll all go with you,” Nicole said, even as Waverly clung to them tighter.

“No, that’s embarrassing,” Beth said. “I’m a lady. I need privacy.”

Mercedes sighed and stood up. “Fine. I’ll go with you, priss. The rest of you stay here, we’ll be fast.”

“I don’t know if that’s a great idea, guys,” Rosita shook her head. 

Wynonna went to her bag and dug around for a moment before pulling out a big hunting knife that was nearly the size of her forearm. She handed it to Mercedes seriously, looking her directly in the eye as they both held onto it.

“Be careful,” Wynonna said. “Scream if anything weird happens. Even the littlest thing. Okay?”

Mercedes nodded. She winked and kissed Wynonna’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. We’ll be quick.”

Beth and Mercedes left the cabin, leaving just Nicole, Waverly, Rosita and Wynonna alone once more. As soon as the cabin door closed, Wynonna spoke up.

“So, you two finally boning?” the smirk was evident in Wynonna’s voice.

“Fuck off, Wy,” Nicole joked.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Leave them alone,” Rosita said, leaning her head on Wynonna’s shoulder. “You can tease them tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Wynonna said as she kissed the top of Rosita’s head.

Nicole licked their lips and looked down at Waverly who just looked back at them with what seemed to be adoration. Nicole’s heart fluttered and they leaned down to kiss her again. At least tonight couldn’t get worse.

***

Mercedes used the flashlight on her phone to light their way as she walked with Beth to the public restroom building next door. She loved her sister, she had to, it was the law or whatever, but she was really annoying sometimes. Most of the time. She had been thankful when Beth seemed to be happy throwing all her pathetic attention Nicole’s way instead of bothering Mercedes. Especially when she was trying to get her fuck on with Wynonna and Rosita.

Beth held Mercedes’ arm.

“Do you think Nicole and Waverly are like...a thing now?” 

Mercedes chuckled. “Sure seems like it.”

“Ugh! That’s so not fair! I’ve been flirting with Nicole since the beginning of the trip,” Beth pouted.

“Yeah, but I think Haught had a thing for Waverly way before you came along,” Mercedes said. “Maybe it’s that grief horniness.”

Beth frowned. “What?”

“Well you saw Champ! He was all fucked up. It reminded me of the time that Tucker brought home that dead cat from science class and did all those gross experiments on it.” Mercedes shuddered. “Waverly saw her boyfriend all gross like a meatball smashed against the floor. One of the stages of grief is horniness.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“They don’t talk about it _obviously_ ,” Mercedes continued. “But you know what they say. The easiest way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

“It’s just not fair. All I want to do is sleep with a hot girl. Why is that so hard?” 

“Because we live in Purgatory,” Mercedes said. “Don’t worry. You’ll get a hot girl this weekend, then you can stop complaining about it.”

Beth sighed wistfully. “I sure hope so.” They got to the restrooms and Beth quickly turned around before Mercedes could follow her in. “I can’t have you in there with me.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Beth, remember that time you shit yourself during cheer practice and I had to drive you home in my new Jag?”

Beth hadn’t looked so red since the day in question. “That’s on our list of things to never talk about!”

“No one is around!” 

“Whatever. Just stay out here,” Beth said, ducking back inside. Mercedes let out a frustrated groan and leaned against the doorframe, looking out at their surroundings nervously. It was so suck what happened with Champ. Like he was a douchebag, but what a shitty way to go. Mercedes couldn’t imagine being eaten by some kind of terrible animal and she didn’t plan on being the next victim. Beth was already taking too long.

“Hurry up!” Mercedes opened the door a crack and yelled in. “It’s freaky out here.”

“Just give me a second!” Beth hissed back. “I’m a girl, no one can know I have bodily functions besides being awesome and hot.”

“Sometimes, I swear,” Mercedes said as she closed the door again. Every second passed like an hour and Mercedes felt her already thin patience waning. She knocked on the door and opened it a crack. “Beth! Hurry up!”

There was a cough and some gurgling which sounded...odd to say the least. Something felt off.

“Beth?” Mercedes called into the bathroom. Nothing.

Mercedes slid into the bathroom cautiously, looking up and down the old row of stalls, their doors rusted and filthy with dirt. 

“Beth, this isn’t funny,” Mercedes said into the restroom. “Now is not the time for jokes.”

Still, nothing. 

The bathroom wasn’t too big, about ten stalls along the wall and five sinks on the opposite wall. Still, the deep darkness that bounced off of the dingy tile made the whole place feel like one giant black hole. Mercedes leaned down to look under the stalls and saw her sister’s feet in the far left one. There was some relief that went through her at the sight.

A thick, deep red drop of blood fell onto the ground besides Beth’s shoe and she frowned. 

“What happened? Did you get your period?” Mercedes rapped on the door and it swung open before closing shut again. Dread spread like slow moving ice through her veins and she swallowed thickly before pushing open the door.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when the sight before her became clear, she gasped and dropped her phone onto the ground, plunging her into darkness once more.

“B-Beth?” she said shakily.

The top of Beth’s head was bent back at an unnaturally sharp angle, her tongue flopping out of her mouth over the bottom half of her jaw. Thick blood dropped down the bottom half of her skull where her jaw had clearly been broken and her head pulled back violently. Her brown eyes stared unseeing at the wall behind her and Mercedes’ entire body started to shake violently.

“Oh no. Oh shit,” Mercedes scrambled backwards from her sister’s body and hit something firm behind her. The sour smell of whiskey and rot reached her nostrils, an overarching smell of dirt sharp just over it. Quickly she turned around into the staring eyes of a gleaming white skull, topped by two long antlers. There were pieces of flesh stuck to the bone, hanging on with bits of ligament and gristle. It opened its fanged jaw and let out an unearthly scream before it lunged towards her and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  [Come yell at me on Twitter if you're so inclined.](https://twitter.com/bootsncatz)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Happy Halloween Eve Eve! Before we get started, I would like to implore everyone to read the tags again. I'll wait.  
> ...  
> ....  
> .....  
> ......  
> .......  
> Okay! Now that that's done. Welcome to this week's spooky installment. We got some blood and gore and say goodbye to some friends. But we have one more chapter left after this. Who will survive? As always, thank you to Lucky for being my beta.

Chapter Four

Waverly’s lips were soft. So very, very soft. And the way she gently cupped Nicole’s jaw, fingers lightly brushing down the bone and over their neck made Nicole’s heart pound almost painfully. The tenderness of Waverly’s touch was almost overwhelming. They hadn’t allowed themself a lot of moments of kindness lately, especially not with their gender coping. These days it felt easier to be hard on themself than kind, even if it was something they never really noticed. 

At least not until this moment where they felt...safe? Taken care of? It was hard to describe, to be honest.

Still, Nicole couldn’t help but think of Champ’s mutilated body not that far away. They could still taste the tears on Waverly’s lips, salty over the sweet. So they kept their kiss brief, pulling away to hold Waverly’s hand over their neck. 

Hazel eyes shined back at them and Nicole lowered their joined hands to Waverly’s knee. Her legs were slung over Nicole’s lap, sitting sideways with her torso tucked neatly into Nicole’s arm. Nicole brushed their fingers gently over Waverly’s eyebrow and down a tear stained cheek. 

Waverly settled with her head against Nicole’s shoulder, as she sniffled softly. Nicole rested their cheek on top of Waverly’s head, arm around Waverly’s back and rubbing her arm. 

“You okay?” Nicole whispered. 

Another sniffle and Waverly looked up at them, tears in the corners of her eyes. “I like being here. With you.”

Her hand smoothed up the front of Nicole’s shirt and cupped their neck. Nicole squeezed Waverly’s knee and her hand moved up further, tangling in red hair at the back of Nicole’s skull and pulling her back down for another kiss. Nicole could feel the desperation in Waverly’s kiss, in the way she pulled them close and sucked their bottom lip between her teeth. Nicole’s heart pulsed, once with elation and another time with guilt. 

They pulled away gently, faces still close. “Baby, doesn’t this feel...weird?” Waverly’s face fell and Nicole quickly shook their head. “Not the _us_ part, not the kissing - definitely not the kissing. But...Champ is...not far away. I don’t know it feels kinda...wrong.”

Waverly let out a shuddery sigh and brought their faces close. 

“I need you,” she whispered, blunt nails digging ever so briefly into Nicole’s skull. They bit back a moan as Waverly placed a kiss behind their ear. “Please. I just need to feel. To forget.”

Nicole couldn’t pretend they didn’t understand. That need to just _be_ in a moment and not think about anything else outside of it, to be grounded. But it just felt wrong, Champ’s body wasn’t even cold yet.

“Waves,” Nicole whispered. “I-”

“Wait,” Waverly said, a bit of desperation in her voice. “Nicole, I wasted so much time with Champ. I’ve liked you for a- well, for a lot longer than I’m sure you’ve liked me, and now that I know you like me too-”

Nicole resisted the urge to lean down and kiss Waverly’s beautiful rambling lips. 

“-and with...everything that just happened.” Waverly took a deep breath before starting over, considerably more measured. “It has never been more clear to me that this time, whatever time we have, really isn’t guaranteed. And I’ve already lost so much time with you, I can’t imagine what would happen if-”

Waverly didn’t have to finish her sentence. Nicole kissed her lightly and Waverly immediately deepened the kiss. They sighed against her lips, hand smoothing up Waverly’s thigh and to her hip. Waverly leaned hard into them, pushing them down towards the mattress when-

_”Aaaaaah-!”_

The blood curdling scream cut off abruptly and the sound cut straight through Nicole’s chest to their heart. Fear gripped their entire body, blood running cold and goosebumps erupting over their skin. 

Immediately they jumped into action, launching themselves from the bed and pushing Waverly off of them a little bit, as they pulled their knife back out of their pocket and headed for the door of the cabin. Wynonna was right behind them and they ran straight for the bathrooms where Mercedes and Beth had gone. Nicole didn’t have time to think about the danger they were running into. Knife out in front of them, they burst through the door where they were once again plunged into darkness.

“Could there not be one fucking light that works in this place?” Wynonna came in right behind them, her phone flashlight on and casting harsh shadows throughout the room. The light hit a dark crimson pool and the phone went clattering to the ground, leaving them in darkness again.

The first thing that struck Nicole was the unfamiliar damp, coppery smell. They wrinkled their nose, eyes trying desperately to see into the tile room. They went to step a little further into the bathroom and their boot slipped on the floor. There was a steady, thick sounding _drip, drip, drip_ and Nicole was suddenly very afraid to find out what it was.

Stomach turning, Nicole looked down and saw thick crimson blood pooling around their feet and slowly covering the dirty tile floor. It flowed through the grout like some sort of fucked up irrigation system.

“Mercedes? Beth?” Wynonna called into the bathroom. Her voice bouncing off of the walls was the only response. Wynonna bent down to pick up the phone and as soon as the light correctly lit up the bathroom, they both gasped. The blood, almost black, pooled on the floor around Nicole’s feet, reaching all the way under the sink. The worst part was that there was a steady drip coming from above.

Nicole swallowed thickly and put their hand on top of Wynonna’s that was still holding the phone. They steeled themself, moving the light up to the source, sick at the base of their throat.

They didn’t realize that Waverly had followed them into the bathroom until they heard her gasp and felt her grip at the back of their shirt as the light landed on the pale face of Mercedes Gardner.

She was hanging from the ceiling in a way Nicole couldn’t quite parse out among the gore. Her limbs were attached to the ceiling, spread eagle like some kind of fucked up puppet being suspended by all its strings. Her eyes were wide like she died in the midst of surprise, jaw slack and blood dripping down from her skull down to parted lips. Following the pale line of her neck, her chest was pulled open in much the same way as Champ’s was. Ribs stood from the red flesh like ivory candlesticks, a steady dripping of blood, too fresh to be congealed, dripping from the cavity of her chest down to the pool of blood below. 

“What the _fuck_?” Rosita said softly from behind them.

“Beth?” Nicole called out to the bathroom, their voice bouncing off of the tile, already suspecting it was futile. 

Wynonna moved the light around the room and Nicole noticed feet under the stall. Swallowing thickly, Nicole carefully stepped out of the pool of Mercedes’ blood and pushed open the stall door. 

“Oh god,” they said under their breath.

Beth’s lifeless body sat on the toilet, shorts down her thighs and the top part of her head ripped away from her jaw and hanging behind her. Nicole let the door shut and looked back at the rest of the gang who stood there waiting with bated breath. Nicole shook their head and quickly went back over to join them. 

“She’s dead.” The words weren’t out of Nicole’s mouth before Waverly let out a sob and Rosita started cursing in Spanish.

“Fuck!” Wynonna yelled. There was a reflection on the floor and Nicole looked down to see the blade of the hunting knife. On the floor next to the knife was Mercedes’ phone. Nicole reached down and picked up the knife, wiping the blood off on her knee without thinking before handing it over to Wynonna.

“Come on, we have to get out of here,” Nicole said. They put an arm around Waverly’s shoulders and steered her back towards the door. All four of them got out of the bathroom and just stood there in the dark of the night, panting like they’d all run a thousand miles. 

Even the moon was hidden behind clouds, leaving them in darkness with their thoughts.

“We have to get out of here,” Nicole repeated. “It’s not safe.”

“Yeah, but going through the forest at night when there’s something out there isn’t safe either,” Rosita argued.

“Fuck! It’s never going to be daylight! ” Wynonna yelled to the trees, voice echoing and shaking the branches. “This is so fucked up!”

Nicole punched Wynonna’s arm because, well, they didn’t know what else to do. 

“Shut up!” they hissed. “We don’t need to attract whatever that thing is-”

“Newsflash, Haught Sauce, I’m pretty sure it fucking knows,” Wynonna said, stepping closer to Nicole. Despite the dark, Nicole could see her blue eyes were rimmed with red, unshed tears in the corners of her eyes. Wynonna always went to combative anger before she let herself be vulnerable. Nicole was used to it and usually could control it, but people were dying and their patience was a bit frayed at the moment.

“Well I’d rather not advertise our presence,” Nicole said. “If you haven’t noticed, our friends are dead, and I’m not risking any of our lives because you can’t keep your damn mouth shut for _once_.”

Wynonna’s whole body stiffened and she stepped forward, her chest bumping into Nicole’s, and Rosita quickly stepped in. She put her hand on Wynonna’s shoulder and pulled her back, forcing Wyonnna’s arm over her shoulders.

“Everyone just chill out,” Rosita said. “We can’t lose our minds right now, okay? We have to come up with a plan.”

The heat of anger and panic prickled at the back of Nicole’s neck and they opened their mouth to argue, but felt Waverly’s hand settle at the small of their back, and deflated. They needed to focus and arguing amongst themselves wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Nicole rolled their shoulders and took a deep breath. They swore they could still smell the blood in their nostrils and felt sick again.

“Rosita’s right,” Nicole said. “And we should get out of the open.”

Wynonna grunted in acknowledgement and turned to walk back towards the cabin. They all followed and Nicole quickly pulled one of the bunkbeds away from the wall. When there was enough space between the wall and bunk bed Nicole shoved themself behind it and finished pushing the heavy bed against the wall, their biceps bulging as they did.

When they finished with a sigh, they looked over at Waverly who was looking at them with a bit of a slack jaw and dark eyes. It took them a moment to recognize the look as desire. Sure three of their friends were dead, but Nic still couldn’t help but smirk, raising their eyebrows at Waverly.

“Can we just say what everyone’s thinking?” Rosita broke the moment between them and Nicole sat down on the bed, Waverly sitting beside them and taking their hand in her own lap. Nicole just nodded. “There’s definitely a...murderer loose. Right?”

Wynonna snorted and Rosita looked at her sharply. “Are you serious?”

“You really think an animal did all that?” Nicole asked. “Stringing Mercedes up on the ceiling? It has to be a human.”

“Or something human… _like_ ,” Waverly muttered.

Silence settled over them again for a moment. 

“We have to get out of here,” Nicole said. “We have to go back to the road.”

“No way. We walked for like an hour through the woods,” Wynonna said.

“If we stay here we’re sitting ducks,” Nicole said. “Especially if it’s someone or some _thing_ is trying to kill us.”

“I agree,” Waverly said.

“Of course you do, you already exposed your jimbley jambleys to Haught, you’re committed now,” Wynonna scoffed.

“My _what_?” Waverly asked with a frown. 

“Your-” Wynonna stuck her tongue out and made some sort of gesture to her own breasts, cupping them and jiggling them. “-jimbley jambleys.”

“My _boobs_?”

“Ugh, you’re my baby sister, I don’t like acknowledging Haught is all up in that. I can’t say anything more explicit.”

“Like tits?” Waverly smirked. Wynonna gagged.

Rosita pinched Wyonnna’s side to get her attention back. 

“Come on, let’s get what we need and go,” Rosita said.

They all started getting all their stuff together, Nicole slinging their backpack over their shoulder. They pointed at the heavy cooler they had lugged all that way, that still had alcohol in it. 

“That stays here,” Nicole said.

Wynonna sighed. “We all have to make sacrifices in times of need.”

With that, she kicked open the top of the cooler and put a beer can in each pocket of her leather jacket, a third one in her hand. She popped the top and took a long drink as foam spilled from the top.

“Seriously, Wynonna?” Waverly said.

“It’s my thinking juice,” she said as she took another chug. Rosita took the can, taking her own long drink before handing it back to Wynonna.

“A match made in heaven,” Nicole said as they pulled the bed back away from the door. They slipped out the door, looking around at their surroundings as everyone else piled up close behind them. 

“We should probably avoid the paths,” Waverly said quietly, chewing on her bottom lip. “That’s where it’ll think to look. Whatever _it_ is.”

“Let’s walk through the woods parallel to the path,” Rosita said. “We don’t want to get lost either.”

Nicole nodded in agreement and kept their knife open at their side. The smear of Mercedes’ blood that Nicole had carelessly wiped on their jeans earlier now felt cold against their skin, like ice. It was drying and stiffening on the side of their thigh and making them feel itchy. They flexed and unflexed the hand not on the knife, trying to distract themself from the feeling. The group walked back towards the bathrooms, walking along the side and behind them. Rosita did the sign of the cross as they passed it.

Wynonna whispered, “I thought you didn’t believe in that stuff?”

“I’m pretty sure we’re being hunted by a demon. And the existence of one would imply the existence of the other. I’m not taking any chances,” Rosita whispered back. “Especially after you opened that stupid book.”

“What book?” Waverly asked, turning to look over her shoulder.

“It was nothing,” Wynonna said, taking Rosita’s hand in her own before taking another long chug of her beer. She finished it and crushed the can in her fist, throwing it off to the side.

“No littering-” Waverly said weakly.

“It was a freaky looking demon book,” Rosita said. “Wynonna read some shit from it.”

Waverly sighed. “Wynonna, you’re not supposed to read the scary books!”

They walked along the edge of the camp until they got back to the path that had led them to the camp. They all stepped into the trees and it felt like the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. The forest floor was thick with leaves and sticks, and it was almost impossible not to walk without crunching on something. Every little snap and crackle of the fallen foliage under their feet sent another shock of fear to Nicole’s heart. The foliage was too thick to avoid the scratching and clawing of tree limbs and bushes. Nicole could feel them, like spindly hands trying to draw them deeper into the forest. The moon lit up the path that was a few yards to their right, just far enough away that they were hidden from view.

Waverly took Nic’s hand and they squeezed back lightly. 

“You okay?” Waverly whispered.

“Are _you_ okay?” Nicole answered back. “With Champ and everything?”

Waverly hugged Nicole’s arm to her chest. “I don’t think I’ve allowed myself to really think about it yet.”

“Yeah. This all feels so weird, right?” Nic frowned. “Like some kind of weird fucked up dream.”

“You know what else is weird, though?” Waverly said, fingers tracing idly up and down the inside of Nic’s arm. “Even though I’d obviously be a lot happier if this was a dream because no one would be dead and we wouldn’t be going through a creepy forest anymore but-” Waverly took a big breath and Nicole found it endlessly adorable. “-I think part of me would be disappointed because then you wouldn't be my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend,” Nicole cringed reflexively at the ‘girl’ even if the rest of the sentence made their heart squeeze in hope. 

“Oh shitballs,” Waverly cursed, squeezing Nicole’s arm. “Not girlfriend, obviously. Boyfriend? No that’s weird. I mean. If you even want to be my gir-...person. Wow, there’s no good gender neutral word for that-”

Nicole chuckled at Waverly’s cute rambling and came to a quick stop, putting their finger under Waverly’s chin and tilting her mouth up to meet theirs. Waverly relaxed into the kiss but a flick to Nicole’s ear made them pull away. Wynonna looked all too pleased with herself.

“Come on, PDA,” Wynonna said. “Now is not the time for romance.”

Waverly pulled Nicole’s arm back to her chest and they continued walking. 

“Waverly, I definitely want to be your...person,” Nicole wrinkled their nose. “You’re right. Not a good gender neutral term for girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something,” Waverly said with the hint of a smile on her face. “Partner? No. Too serious.”

“Also just kinda sounds weird,” Nicole said.

“We’ll figure it out,” Waverly said happily. “Until then, you’re just my baby.”

Nicole couldn’t help but smile. It felt like their heart was trying to escape their chest like a frightened bird. This whole night was so odd. How could it be simultaneously the best and worst night of their life? Waverly was holding them and calling them her baby but three of their friends had been brutally murdered, and they might be next. Yet somehow, Nicole couldn’t help but be a little delighted. 

“I like that.” Nicole looked around them, suddenly hyper aware that they had let their guard down for a little too long. They realized that it seemed to have gotten gotten darker, the moon totally hidden from view and the path that had once been visible now completely gone. “Wait,” Nicole stopped in their tracks. “Where are we?”

They all stopped, the eerie silence of the forest settling over them. Nicole had spent a significant amount of time in the forest, they liked camping and hiked at least once a weekend when the weather permitted, and never had they ever experienced such _quiet_ amongst the trees. It lent to their unease.

“Where’d the fucking road go?” Rosita hissed.

“It was _right_ there,” Wynonna said. “Maybe we just can’t see it.”

Wynonna started towards where the path had been and they all followed, but they just stomped through more of the forest with no path in sight.

“Well, fuck,” Nic said, trying to keep the panic out of their voice.

“We should have stayed on the road,” Wynonna muttered.

“It’s fine,” Waverly said a little too optimistically. “We couldn’t have strayed _too_ far. We just need to get a look at the sky.”

They all looked up and saw only dark trees.

“Might be a little harder than you think, baby girl,” Wynonna said flatly.

Nicole swore they heard a rustling in some nearby bushes and quickly turned towards it, knees bent and knife at the ready at their side. 

“Did you hear that?” Nic whispered.

“Yeah,” Rosita whispered back.

The hair stood up on the back of Nicole’s neck, heart pounding in their ears as they tried to listen for more noise, but the forest had become quiet again. Nicole licked their lips and inched towards where the noise had come from. They stared into the inky darkness as if it would become clear all of a sudden. They hoped to get a hint of movement in the dark but it looked like they were just walking into a void. 

As they pushed past a wall of trees, they suddenly saw a glimmering light of hope in the distance.

“There,” Nic whispered, pointing to it. They cautiously walked towards it, avoiding as many twigs and leaves as they could along the way, but it was basically impossible. If whatever seemed to be hunting them could see in the dark better than they could, they were screwed. At this point their only hope was that it, or they, were just as helpless in the dark as they were.

As they got closer, the spot grew and grew until Nicole saw that it was a break in the canopy of trees. The moonlight shone like a spotlight over a bush and as they approached it, any hope they might have had faded. It was just a small gap in the trees above, nothing significant. Not that they knew what else they were hoping for anyways. Other than maybe an exit.

“Can you see the stars from here?” Nicole asked Waverly quietly. She looked up at the sky and Nicole looked around again. That’s when their eyes landed on something catching the light under some foliage. Frowning, Nicole approached the tiny glimmering piece of material under a nearby bush. They bent down and saw the corner of what looked like a plaque of some sort.

With a frown, Nicole reached for the metal and grasped the edge, pulling it out from under the bush. It was brown with a gold edging and lettering, the metal base rusty and sheared off a couple feet down, and when Nicole’s eyes adjusted to the light enough to read it, their heart sank into their stomach and their bile rose.

_This is the site of the  
Shelterland Music Festival Fire_

They dropped the sign and stood back up quickly, eyes frozen on the now swimming words as their vision narrowed down to a tunnel. They could suddenly hear the screaming - _god_ \- the unearthly, blood curdling screams as people burned alive, the pop and sizzle of their flesh burning off their bones all around them. And the smell...the smell was something Nicole could never forget. It smelled like a campfire, but just under that was the smell of burning flesh and hair. They could still feel the smoke and ash in their eyes, making them itchy and watery and hard to see, they felt the burning of their lungs as they tried to breathe.

Their hands shook with fear and they remembered running, running, running, tears streaming down their eyes.

“Come back here, girl!” she - _they_ \- remembered their uncle yelling as he lay under a tree. “Come help me!” The fire was in the tree, making the trunk glow bright red and orange, they could smell their uncle’s fat melting from the fire, hear his screams until they died away. They remembered staring in horror as the fire consumed his face, popping and burning the flesh until it was black and charred and they could see the stark white of his bone appearing, skin of his cheeks melting away so it looked like he was grinning wickedly. All the hair had burned off of his head and his eyes melted like jelly down his face.

_”Run!_ ” Aunt Giselle said to Nicole. She was trapped, pinned between a shed and the front of a truck that had sped through the camp, hitting festival goers as it went until it finally hit their aunt and that shed. “Run and don’t look back.”

“Nic!” 

Nicole blinked, tearing their eyes away from the sign. They realized Waverly was standing in front of them, her hands framing their face. Nicole didn’t know if the fear in Waverly’s eyes was her own or their’s, reflecting back at them. 

“Nicole, are you okay?” Waverly whispered.

Nic realized their lungs were burning and they gulped for air. “What-?”

Wynonna handed Nicole a can and they didn’t even think as they took it with a shaky hand and took a long gulp, the bitter taste of lukewarm beer filling their mouth and spilling down their chin. Handing the can back to Wynonna, Nicole took a deep breath. 

“Are you okay?” Waverly asked again. “When you saw the sign you just kinda stopped breathing.”

Nicole looked back down at the sign and closed their eyes. They’d never talked to anyone about this. They actually were pretty sure they had locked all these memories away until this moment. Long gone had been the images of her Aunt and Uncle’s dying faces or the smell of hundreds of people burning. The images were fuzzy, but still there intact, it seemed.

“I’m fine,” Nicole’s voice audibly shook and they tried to clear their throat to chase it away. “I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Waverly shook her head. “Tell me, what happened?”

Nicole looked back down at the sign and swallowed thickly. “I um-.” Nicole shook their head and felt the hot press of tears behind their eyes and shook their head. They didn’t want to cry. They couldn’t cry. “I was um, there. At the festival when it burned down. I was six and the-...well the only survivor.”

Wynonna plopped down next to Nicole, her legs bent up and arms wrapped around them as she looked at them sympathetically. “You never told me that, Haught Sauce.”

“I try not to think about it,” Nicole forced a lifeless chuckle and squeezed their eyes shut, cursing to themself as they felt a hot tear leak down their cheek. Waverly’s thumb brushed away the tear and she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Nicole’s. They took a deep breath and felt Wynonna’s hand on their arm, comforting. “I think I’d forgotten, honestly. Sorry, I didn’t mean to- It won’t happen again.

“Don’t apologize, please,” Waverly whispered. “It’s okay. Do you need a second?”

“No, we should go,” Nicole said, taking another long steadying breath. 

“Just take a second, Haught,” Wynonna said. “You kinda just dropped a big bomb on us and clearly you’re still upset. Can’t have you running around this freaky forest screaming.”

“I screamed?”

Waverly shot Wynonna a look. “It was just a little one.”

Nicole stood up suddenly, head a little light from the sudden movement. “I’m fine.”

“Nic-”

“I just want to get away from this area,” Nicole interrupted, running a shaking hand through their hair. “I was six. It was forever ago.”

Rosita and Wynonna looked at each other and Waverly was fixing them with that sad, sympathetic look. Nicole hated it. 

“Did you see Clyde Burghman?” Rosita whispered.

Waverly shot her a look and Nicole frowned. “Who?”

“He was the guy who started the fire, I read about it in my book,” Rosita said. “He was a real homophobic son of a bitch. I guess the Shelterland Music Festival was a big queer music festival. Unofficially.”

“Like Lilith Fair?” Wynonna gave a hint of a smile.

“Kinda,” Rosita shrugged. “But he tried to shut down the festival with the town and when that didn't work he went there and set the forest on fire. It was really fucked up.”

Nicole couldn’t help but shiver. 

“Is this why you don't like fire?” Waverly whispered.

“I promise I’m fine,” Nicole forced a smile, ignoring Waverly’s question. Waverly stood up and brushed some red hair away from Nicole’s face. 

“You know, you don’t have to be,” Waverly said so quietly that Nicole wasn’t even sure they were supposed to hear. 

_Snap!_

The sharp sound of a twig snapping brought all of their attention over to the side. Not thinking, Nicole shoved her knife into Waverly’s hand and picked up the abandoned sign, holding it by its post like some kind of long baseball bat.

They tried to push the smell of burning flesh to the back of their mind, pretending they couldn’t taste the ash on their tongue from nearly twenty years ago. The forest had gone quiet again but they all stood at the ready towards where they had heard the sound. Waverly was on Nicole’s left, knife at the ready in her hand, Wynonna was on the other side of them with her own knife and Rosita had what looked like a bottle of pepper spray.

Nicole widened their stance, flexing their hands on the pole. Maybe all that high school softball would finally be put to good use.

It was eerily quiet as they all stared into the darkness of the trees. A terrible, rotten smell wafted towards Nicole’s nostrils. Like dirt and decay and something that Nicole could only assume was what death smelled like. Nicole stared so hard they were sure they could see shapes forming in the dark, beasts with dripping fangs and long claws. When the bulging white eyes came into view in the dark they almost thought it was part of the dark. 

But the creature stepped closer and into the light, and Nicole’s blood ran cold. 

Gleaming white eyes, red veins leading to dark irises that looked like they were floating in the dark just staring at them. As the creature got closer Nicole noticed that the eyes were bulging from the grisly skull of a stag, long sharp antlers jutting up and pieces of red bloody flesh and muscle clinging to the white bone. 

“What the fuck,” Wynonna whispered.

Nicole was frozen in fear, unsure of what to do, but as the creature creeped ever closer they saw that behind the skull was a human. The skull was on their head, the blood and gore from it dripping down onto their body. A thick neck and meaty arms, both covered in dirt like they had just crawled out of a shallow grave. They had on dark jeans and a dirty yellowed t-shirt with sweat stains and blood decorating it.

Nicole had a feeling some of that blood was from their friends. 

The figure had a sharp looking sickle in their hands and Nicole could hear their heavy, labored breathing behind the skull.

“Hey, you look outnumbered here, buddy, maybe you should turn around,” Wynonna said firmly.

A thick hand with dirt caked under the nails came up and took the deer head off. Somehow his face was even more disturbing. Pale and bloated like he was half dead already, cracked lips pulled back into a ghastly grin.

“Clyde?” Rosita whispered.

His eyes darted quickly to her but the rest of his body didn’t move. 

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“I’m supposed to be a lot of things, sweetheart.” His voice was deep but also sounded like his vocal cords had been dragged across a cheese grater. He lunged forward and Nicole acted on instinct, swinging the sign with a yell towards him. The metal sign hit him across the skull with a _thunk_ and the sound made adrenaline spike in their heart. 

Clyde’s head bent back violently and Nicole took the opportunity to hit him square in the neck with the sharp edge of the sign. He screamed as dark, almost black blood leaked slowly from his neck, thick and putrid. They tried to pull the sign from his neck, pulling as hard as they could but it wouldn’t budge. Clyde’s eyes turned to Nicole and he grabbed the end of the pole and yanked. Nicole’s arms felt like they were going to rip from their sockets with the force and they lurched forward, trying to hold onto the pole. But it was wrenched out of their arms and Clyde threw it to the side, eyes filled with rage.

“Run!” Wynonna yelled just as Clyde lurched towards them. 

Nicole went again for the sign but Waverly pulled them by the back of the shirt. “Come on!”

Nicole growled in frustration but did as Waverly asked. Their shoes slipped in the soggy forest floor but they took off, long legs propelling them after Waverly with Wynonna and Rosita behind them. They could hear the heavy breathing and rustle of the foliage behind them, the uncannily agile clomping of Clyde following behind. 

They burst out of the forest line, all standing disoriented for a moment. Nicole saw the road to their right and pointed just as Clyde burst from the tree line. 

“Move it or lose it!” Wynonna yelled. “To the car!” 

“It’s dead!” Nicole yelled back. 

“Come up with a better idea, dumbass!” Wynonna yelled.

Even in their panic, Nicole was willing to admit they had no better ideas. Waverly was still a little ahead of them and Nicole kept their hand outstretched, just barely grazing the back of Waverly’s shirt as they went. Nicole could practically feel Clyde’s breath hot behind them, propelling their legs faster and faster. As they got closer to the road, Nicole saw headlights down the road. Their heart lurched with something that felt like hope and they leapt into the road, waving their hands to stop the car.

The car slammed on its brakes, tires screeching to a halt and just barely missing Nicole, by some miracle. There was a loud _whoop_ of a siren and Nicole realized it was a cop car they’d just thrown themselves in front of. The door opened just as Waverly collided with Nicole’s side, Wynonna and Rosita quickly after.

The cop shined a bright light in Nicole’s eyes and they put their hands up reflexively.

“There’s a guy after us!” they yelled, pointing vaguely towards the forest as they tried to squint into the light.

“He’s right behind us! Get your gun out!” Wynonna screeched.

The light went away and Nicole blinked to get the popping lights out of their eyes. 

“Whatchu girls doin’ out ‘ere?” he said, sucking on his teeth. 

“There’s someone trying to _kill_ us, bro!” Wynonna hissed, blue eyes wild in the headlights. 

“You drunk? High?” The officer put his hands on his belt, legs comically wide.

“No, idiot-”

Waverly elbowed Wynonna in the ribs to stop her mid sentence. She looked up at the cop with a smile that could have knocked an elephant off their feet. 

“Officer, we swear we are sober and there’s someone out there, in the woods. And he killed _three_ of our friends-!”

“Woah woah woah, lil lady,” the officer said with a finger up in Waverly’s direction. “There were three more’a you? Girls? Were ya having some kinda lesbo orgy or somethin’? You got a permit fer that?”

“Our _friends_ have been _murdered_!” Nicole said. “There are bodies. Please, we have to call someone or do something or-”

“You hold on righ’ there, girl-”

Nicole cringed.

“-if there’s bodies, let's go see ‘em.”

“I don’t really know how I feel about going back there,” Rosita said. Nicole couldn’t help but agree, and if Waverly and Wynonna’s faces told them anything, it was that no one did. 

“Listen, I can’t jus’ call in the cavalry jus’ because a bunch a’ lil girls came stumblin’ drunk outta the forest. People don’ like comin’ down here and if I call em in on a shit call I’ll be stuck on this duty for months. So. We’re gonna go see the bodies and then I’ll call out the big guns, alright?”

“We’re not-” Nicole took a deep breath and tensed their jaw. “Fine.”

“Come on, we’ll take the cruiser,” he shrugged. He opened the back door of the car and gestured for them to get in. Nicole looked back at the others but they all seemed resigned. They weren’t sure what other option they had.

“Fine, but I’m getting my gas,” Wynonna muttered to herself. She quickly opened the back of the car and grabbed out the gas can she had filled up earlier at the station.

“Why do you need that?” Waverly asked.

“You never know,” Wynonna said. 

They all stuffed themselves into the back of the cruiser, the uncomfortable plastic seats squeaking under them. Waverly was half on top of Nicole and Wynonna had her gas can between her feet. The officer whooped the siren when he started the car and turned down the forest path. Nicole had some doubt this car was going to make it all the way down the rough path, but at least there was a gun present with that psycho around.

Wynonna leaned over Rosita towards Nicole and Waverly ducked her head closer too. She whispered, “I know we haven’t had a chance to talk about it, but this got more fucked up than it already was, right? We were chased by a dead guy.”

“How could we have been chased by a dead guy he’s...dead,” Nicole said. “He’s probably just some freak pretending to be him.”

“Did you see the blood that came out that thing? It was _not_ normal,” Waverly said.

“I’m telling you, that book you read...it wasn’t right,” Rosita said.

“Are we talking magic here?” Waverly said with a hint of awe.

“Demons, magic, whatever you want to call it,” Rosita said.

“Are you serious?” Wynonna said.

“There are many cultures that have believed in magic, Wynonna, it’s not that farfetched,” Waverly said.

“What were you little gals doing around these parts anyways?” the officer said.

Nicole gritted their teeth together. “We broke down on the road and decided to try and sleep in the camp.”

“Sure you weren’t doin’ drugs?”

“I wish,” Wynonna muttered as they continued down the path. 

***

Somehow the car was making its way easily down the path, and it didn’t take long to reach the entrance of the camp. Wynonna was starting to regret her decision to take the gas can when the fumes were making her head hurt. But she couldn’t risk leaving it. It was the only other thing in that van that could be somewhat useful and she wasn’t going to leave it. 

“This is a bad idea,” Rosita said.

“It kinda is, huh?” Waverly said.

“Alright, where’re the bodies?” the officer said, almost bored. 

“You’re not even going to tell other guys with guns that we’re here?” Wynonna said, pointing towards the radio.

“Nah, these things don’t work too hot around here,” he said. “Not really sure why but it’s always been an issue.”

“How the hell do we have the _worst_ luck right now?” Wynonna said.

“Alright let’s see,” he said as he put the car in park. “Tell me where the first one is and I’ll go check it out. You can even stay here.”

“He’s in the first counselor cabin,” Waverly said, voice somber. 

“Alright, be right back,” he said, taking the keys out of the ignition and putting them in his pocket. 

“Hey, at least open the door for us,” Wynonna said, leaning across everyone’s lap to tap on the driver’s side back window. He quickly popped open the door before pulling out his flashlight. Waverly held the door ajar as he strode towards the cabin. 

“This is a terrible idea, right?” Nicole whispered.

“You know, for a second I thought we were saved but now I’m not so sure with Barney Fife over here,” Wynonna said. She looked into the front seat and sighed. “Damn. He took the keys. We coulda got outta here.”

At the sound of a gunshot, their eyes all turned back to where the cop had disappeared to. Wynonna’s heart dropped and they were sure that was the sound of their last hope being attacked by some kind of undead serial killer.

“We have to get outta here,” Rosita said. “That thing’s gonna see a cop and come look for the car.”

“We were so _fucking_ close,” Wynonna said through gritted teeth as they all quickly and as quietly as they could slid out of the car, carefully closing the door behind them. They all snuck behind the car so they could look through the window towards where the cop had disappeared. From where they were they could see the beginning of the first counselor cabin where Champ was and the main cabin in front of that. 

That’s when they saw Clyde, the door to the counselor cabin opening and his hulky body standing in the frame. 

Wynonna felt her heart stop at the sight. 

He still had the black, clotted blood congealing on his neck and down the front of his shirt from where Nicole hit him. 

_This is so fucked._ Wynonna was sure she had never seen anything as fucked. And she’d seen a lot of fucked up shit.

What was more fucked was that he was dragging the body of their last hope by the ankle behind him. Wynonna could see a dark trail of blood smearing over the ground where they dragged the body, the trail wet and reflecting the moonlight above. 

They all watched in horror as he took the body into the main cabin, the door shutting behind him. They all kept staring, almost too afraid to move, but Wynonna mostly didn’t know what the fuck to do now. Only a few moments later, Clyde left the cabin again. 

He stood at the door and looked around the camp, dead eyes scanning the area. They waited, breath held, as he slowly moved his gaze over to the car. He stared at it for a moment, all four of them frozen in fear but hidden from his view. Then he began to lumber towards it. 

“Fuck,” Wynonna said, looking around. Nothing but open space anywhere around them. “We have to get under the car. There’s no other place to go.”

“Won’t he see us?” Rosita asked. 

“I don’t know but he’ll definitely see us if we stay here or run for it,” Wynonna said. 

“Fine,” Waverly said, starting to crawl under the car. Wynonna let Rosita go under first then followed after, pulling her gas can with her as she pulled herself along her belly to get under the low car. She settled under it, squishing into Rosita as much as she could to give Nicole and Waverly enough room where they were behind them. Their backpacks got caught on the underside of the car as they slid under it, but still managed. Nicole pulled their long legs under just as Clyde stepped up to the driver’s side of the car. 

His shoes, the only thing they could see, were caked in dirt and blood, gore stuck along the bottom like toilet paper trailing behind him. The smell was overwhelming. Like a slaughterhouse. Blood and cuts and flesh and the distinct and putrid smell of _fear_ permeated the air. 

Wynonna could visibly see Rosita shaking next to her and out her arm around her shoulder the best she could in the small space. She pressed her lips to Rosita’s shoulder and she turned to look at her, fear in her eyes. 

Rosita wasn't ready to die. Hell, none of them were. This was fucked up. Real fucked up. Guilt and duty gnawed at Wynonna’s stomach and she wished she could reach the flask in her jacket pocket. Clyde just stood there for a moment and they all stared at his shoes, trying to control their breathing. Wynonna looked over her shoulder and saw Waverly with her own hand clapped over her mouth, eyes wide and terrified tears streaming down her face. Nicole next to her, pale face smeared with dirt.

Clyde’s breathing sounded heavy, labored, like each breath was being hand pumped into his lungs by one of those old timey fireplace bellows. He slowly stepped around the car, large feet kicking up dust as he dragged them slowly, slowly around the car. They jumped when they heard him try to open the doors to no avail, an unsatisfied grunt leaving his chest. 

Wynonna watched carefully as he made his way around the entire car, stopping again back where he started. He just stood there, each second feeling like hours as they all just waited and hoped for him to leave. Wynonna didn’t pray, but she sure as fuck would now if she knew how. Any little chance that it could help get them out of this situation.

Her heart was pounding so loud in her chest she was sure he could hear it or even sense it. He was some kind of undead serial killer, after all, who knew what he was capable of? Besides murdering people in cold blood anyways. With one final grunt, Clyde turned on his heel and headed back around the car and towards the forest. 

They all stayed under the car until the sound of his footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore, only their heavy breathing audible. Wynonna scrambled out from under the car first, looking around as everyone else got out from under the car, Nicole helped Waverly up and gave her a quick kiss before brown eyes were turned to her.

Wynonna had seen Nicole mad before, but this looked like rage.

Nicole pushed Wynonna’s shoulder, fury in their eyes as they stepped in her space. “This is your fault, Wynonna.”

“How is this my fault?” Wynonna sputtered, putting down her gas can in case she needed to punch Haught’s lights out.

“You’re the one who insisted on going down The Last Road,” Nicole hissed. “No one else wanted to, but you made us feel dumb for wanting to go the long way. Now look at us!”

“How was I supposed to know some undead _psycho_ was going to come after us?” Wynonna said, shoving Nicole’s shoulder back. They stumbled back a little and came back with even more anger, lips pulled back into a snarl.

“You’re always taking the _dumbest_ shortcuts and it always gets us in trouble, but this time it’s getting us killed!” Nicole said.

“Well you’re the one trying to bang my sister while our friends are dying!” Wynonna yelled back. 

“Shut _up_!” Nicole went to shove Wynonna again but she grabbed their arms and tried to wrestle them back to their sides. Unfortunately, Nicole was pretty strong despite her spindly look and they ended up with their arms wrapped around each other in a bear hold. Wynonna tried to knock Nicole off balance but Nicole took advantage of the situation and knocked her off balance instead, sending her tumbling into the dirt with Nicole on top. 

She could vaguely register Rosita and Waverly saying something, but she was too busy trying to push Nicole's oddly dense body off of herself.

“Now you’re trying to cheat on her right in front of her?” Wynonna said, voice strained as she pressed her palm up into Nicole’s cheek, squishing their features. “Don’t kiss me in front of our girlfriends, Nic.”

“You’re insufferable!” Nicole said as Wynonna finally flipped them over onto their back. Wynonna pulled back her fist to punch Nicole in the face and end it right there, but there were suddenly hands on her arms, hauling her off of Nicole and back onto the ground.

Wynonna pushed Rosita and Waverly’s arms away just as Nicole scrambled back to their feet. Opportunity lost.

“You two need to chill out,” Rosita hissed. Waverly had her hand on Nicole’s chest and their nostrils were flaring as they looked at Wynonna. “Now is not the time to be arguing like this.”

“It doesn’t matter how we got here, but we have to get out,” Waverly said.

Wynonna sighed and let her shoulders relax. The worst part was that Nicole was right. She had been thinking it since the first second that their car broke down. Wynonna was the one that made the decision to get the shitty car and the one to go down The Last Road. Of course she was the one to screw this up. What was new? Except at least before, people didn’t usually end up dead because of her.

“No, Haught is right,” Wynonna said, wiping some dirt from her pants. “It’s my fault. So I’ll fix it.”

“How?” Nicole said.

Wynonna licked her lips. “I’ll go get the keys from Officer Idiot’s body in the main cabin. Then we’ll take the cruiser and get out of there.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that he just dragged the body in there? Doesn’t it feel weird? Like a trap?” Rosita asked.

Wynonna shook her head. “Even if it is. We saw him leave. It’s the only way out.”

“Why don’t we all go?” Waverly asked.

“We clearly can’t even take him all at once,” Wynonna said. “If we split up we have more of a chance. Plus you can cover us. If you see him go to the cabin, you can distract him or something.”

“Okay fine,” Waverly said. “I don’t like it. But fine.”

“Happy, Nic?” Wynonna bit at her best friend, still a little bitter. Most of the bitterness was at herself, but Wynonna had never really been good at expressing her true feelings. 

“It’s a start,” Nicole said. 

“You two can fight later,” Waverly hissed. Wynonna snapped her jaw shut, stopping any potential insults she was going to sling Nicole’s way. Waverly had that sad desperate look in her eyes and Wynonna definitely couldn’t be the cause of that, not to her baby sister.

Wynonna shrugged off her jacket and tossed it towards Waverly, who slipped it on. She looked over at the main cabin. It was a good five minute walk away, but the distance looked impossible in the dark when there was someone after them. She patted her belt where her knife was, making sure it was there, then felt for her lighter in her back pocket. Check.

“I’ll go with you,” Rosita said. Wynonna was about to argue but Rosita fixed her with a look that told her not to even try. Rosita just repeated. “I’ll go with you.”

“Fine,” Wynonna said with a small smile. “Little eye candy never hurt no one.”

Even if Rosita was trying to look exasperated, Wynonna saw the glint of love in her eyes. Wynonna leaned forward and kissed her lightly, always enough to make the little pout on her lips go away. And sure enough, Wynonna could practically feel Rosita relax under her lips.

“Let’s go, hot stuff,” Wynonna whispered, patting Rosita’s ass lightly. Wynonna turned back to Nicole, face hardened, and gave them a slight nod. “Take care of my sister while I’m gone.”

“She doesn’t need anyone to take care of her,” Nicole said seriously.

Wynonna felt a tug of affection towards her best friend and wrapped her arms around them. Nicole didn’t move for a moment, but then returned the hug. Wynonna whispered close to their ear. “No matter what, Waverly has to be okay.”

“She will be,” Nicole whispered back. “I promise.”

Wynonna pulled out of the hug and put her hand on Nicole’s shoulder with a squeeze. Nicole gave her a curt nod and Wynonna felt some relief. The only thing Wynonna knew for curtain was that Nicole would rather die than let anything happen to Waverly. Waverly gave Wynonna a firm hug and Wynonna kissed the top of her head.

“Stay safe, baby girl, I’ll be fast,” Wynonna said with a wink. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Picking up her gas can again, Wynonna gave Rosita her hunting knife. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They tried to stick to the shadows, slinking along the edges of the open campgrounds. Wynonna kept looking over her shoulder as they went, sure that Clyde would just show up out of nowhere. For being such a big, hulking oaf, he really moved silently. Wynonna’s pounding heart reverberated through her whole body, she could feel it in her throat and her ears and it felt like it was choking her. Finally, they made it to the cabin and slipped inside. 

It was dark inside, the smell of blood and dust apparent in the air, and they took a moment to get their eyes adjusted. Rosita turned on her phone flashlight and they saw the cop’s body far in the back of the cabin among some sporting supplies, head totally ripped off and part of his spine sticking up from the hole where his neck used to be. His head was placed on a shelf of sports balls next to him and Wynonna shivered.

“Nasty,” Rosita groaned. 

“Is it bad all this death is making me kinda horny?” Wynonna quipped. “I think Waverly is feelin’ it too.”

“No messing around,” Rosita said, poking Wynonna’s side affectionately. “Come on. Let’s get his keys and go.”

“Alright alright,” Wynonna said. Not wanting to waste any more time, Wynonna strode over towards the body, her heavy boots reverberating through the old wood of the cabin. She covered her nose with her shirt as she got closer to the body. This dude definitely shit himself. Probably before he was knocked off. That sucked. No dignity, even in death. Even this guy deserved better. The body was positioned on top of a rainbow parachute looking tarp and there was thick, gross blood pooling around him from where it had flowed out of his neck. Wynonna had no interest in getting that stuff on her good boots, so she bent over and reached for the key ring she saw on his belt. Her fingers barely grazed the metal and she cursed. Fine. She would sacrifice the shoes. 

Bracing herself for the grossness, Wynonna stepped forward into the mess, closing her fist around the keys, sharp cut edges digging into her palm. But she only had a moment to register it before there was a sickening metallic-

_Click_.

A hot searing pain shot up Wynonna’s leg and she couldn’t help but scream, falling forward on her knees and face first into the chest of Officer DumbDumb.

“Fuck!” she screamed, tears springing into the corner of her eye and the smell of dead dude mixed with the pain, making her stomach ache. 

“Wynonna, baby, ssh ssh,” Rosita had rushed over to her and pulled her away from the body. Rosita sat down with her back against the wall and pulled Wynonna back against her chest and between her legs. “Breathe for me. Breathe for me. Don’t pass out.”

Wynonna took a deep shuddering breath and pain radiated through her bones, black dots popping over her eyes. Rosita held her tight against her chest and she forced her eyes open to see what the cause of the pain was.

She wished she hadn’t.

Around her calf was a closed bear trap, the sharp teeth digging so far into her leg that it was completely closed in the middle, no doubt only stopped by her bone. A bone that was definitely broken. Her jeans were shredded and the flesh on her calf looked about the same. The chain from the trap was nailed into the floor with what looked like a railroad spike. That baby wasn’t going anywhere.

“Oh fuck,” Wynonna panted, trying to hold back another scream. She could feel the sweat breaking out along her hairline and all the contents of her stomach ready to revolt against her. Rosita kept rocking her and placing soft kisses along the side of her face, surely trying to distract her, and it did vaguely work. 

“We gotta get it off your leg,” Rosita said. “I’m going to let you go. Okay? No screaming.”

“Okay,” Wynonna managed. Rosita reached around towards Wynonna’s belt buckle and began undoing it, pulling the leather through the loop. Wynonna couldn’t resist a small smirk, even if it was hard to talk through the pain. “Just have to get into my pants, huh? Does the blood get you going?”

Rosita gave Wynonna a look as she pulled the belt away from her pants. She folded the belt in half and held it in front of Wynonna’s mouth. “Bite down on this, baby.”

Wynonna opened her mouth and Rosita put it in between her teeth. She bit down, tongue tasting the leather. “Not as sexy as I hoped,” she managed through the leather. 

She braced herself as Rosita kneeled in front of the trap, hand on each side of the jaws as she gripped it. Wynonna bit down as Rosita tried to wretch the metal trap apart. She held back a scream as the metal pulled back through her raw flesh and more blood gushed from her wounds and down her leg. 

The vein popped in Rosita’s forehead, face red as she pulled. But the trap barely made it more of an inch open before she shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

She let go and the trap snapped shut again, sending another wave of fresh pain up her body. Wynonna let out a sob against the belt, hitting her head back against the wall of the cabin. Rosita tried to pull the stake from the floor but no luck. 

Suddenly there was a shout from outside and it sounded like rocks were being thrown in their direction. She recognized Nicole’s voice among the yelling.

“Wy! Rosita! Get out!”

“Clyde must be coming,” Rosita said, looking around the cabin desperately. “We have to find a way to get you out of here.”

Wynonna knew what had to be done. 

She gestured for the gasoline can she left at the front of the cabin as she pulled the belt from her mouth. Rosita went and got it, setting it next to her as she knelt back down next to Wynonna.

“What is it, Nonna? You have an idea?” Rosita whispered.

Wynonna nodded and forced a small smile, sure it looked more like a grimace with the pain she was in.

“I know how to get out of this. How to keep you safe and everyone else,” Wynonna said, voice shaking. “You have to leave me here-”

“ _What?_ No way, Earp,” Rosita said, brow furrowing in anger. “I’m not leaving you here. No one left behind.”

Wynonna shook her head, reaching up with a shaky hand to cup Rosita’s cheek. She shook her head, smiling sadly. “It’s the only way, babe, and you know it.”

She watched as Rosita’s face went from disbelief to anger and ultimately to sadness, crumbling into a sob as she shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t let you die.”

“Rosie, it’s okay,” Wynonna said, rubbing her thumb over her cheek. “I’ll be okay. Can you imagine me trying to wobble around on one leg anyways? No way this baby can be saved.”

Rosita chuckled sadly. “No time for jokes. Now come on. We have to go.”

Wynonna shook her head. “You know I have no chance, Rosie. And you have to go _now_.”

Rosita looked back at her, Wynonna could see the argument on her tongue. But Wynonna fixed her with a look and resignation eventually leaked into her features. “But-”

Wynonna cut her off with a kiss, hoping to pour every bit of emotion and regret and hope and dream into it. It was a simple thing, really, a kiss. A simple gesture that really wasn’t much, but could destroy lives and hearts just the same. Rosita had destroyed Wynonna deliciously with every kiss since they had started this crazy thing between them.

“I love you,” Wynonna whispered against Rosita’s lips. “I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before. But I _love_ you, Rosita Bustillos. Never forget that.”

“I won’t,” Rosita said, entire body shaking with sadness. “I love you too. So so much.”

“Take care of Waverly, please,” Wynonna said. “Just make sure she makes it out of here. Please.”

“I will, baby,” Rosita said between kisses.

“And tell Haught I’m sorry. And I love them too,” Wynonna said.

“Them?” Rosita frowned.

Wynonna just nodded. “Them. Tell them I love them. And tell Waverly I love her too.”

“Anything. I’ll do anything,” Rosita said.

“Survive,” Wynonna said firmly. “Above all else. Survive.”

Rosita held Wynonna’s face between her hands and kissed her hard. Wynonna’s heart broke at the finality of it all, but she savored the taste of Rosita’s lips for the last time. When Rosita finally pulled away, she kept their foreheads close together. Wynonna shoved the keys into her hand as she slowly pushed her away.

“Go, baby, use the window,” Wynonna said. “You have to go. Now.”

Rosita let out another choked sob and Wynonna could hear the clamoring footsteps of Clyde just outside the door. 

“Go!”

Rosita ran towards the window, throwing it open and leaning out of it. She looked back at Wynonna who gave her a wink. 

“Just remember how good in bed I am, okay?” Wynonna said. 

Rosita couldn’t help but grin through her tears, just as the door of the cabin slammed open, Clyde silhouetted blackly in the frame. Rosita scrambled out the window and Wynonna reached for the lighter in her back pocket.

“Hey, ugly, see something you like?” Wynonna only had her bravado left. “Come and get it.”

Her bravado, and a can of gasoline. Clyde moved towards her, eyes so bloodshot they were basically red. He had a leer on his face and Wynonna reached for the gasoline. She unscrewed the cap of the can and held it in both hands. She began to shake out the contents, spreading the gas all over the body next to her and on the floor around her. Some splashed and got on her wound, making her scream between her teeth and darkness bloom in her vision. Once the can was empty, smell of gas making her lightheaded, Wynonna looked up to see Clyde halfway across the cabin towards her.

He had his stupid scythe in his hand, drool coming out of the corner of his mouth like he was salivating at the idea of a kill.

“Hope you like barbeque, big guy,” Wynonna smirked, flipping open the lid of her zippo. Clyde kept lumbering towards her, reaching towards her like Frankenstein’s monster. Wynonna flicked the wheel of the lighter, watching the flame spark to life in her hand. She took a deep calming breath, trying to settle the rapid beating of her heart. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of killing her. She wasn’t going to let this end the way he wanted. If she was going down, he sure as hell was going with her. Wynonna, for the first time in her life, was going to do what was right. She was going to save the people she loved most at any cost. A sort of peace came over her and her eyes opened again, fury on her face and a twisted smile on her lips.

Clyde was standing over her now, his boots in the pool of gasoline around her. He had his sickle raised, ready to bring it down onto her.

“Make your peace, motherfucker,” she snarled.

With that, she dropped the lit lighter into the gasoline pool around them.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. A blue ring of fire ignited around the lighter, slowly glowing and getting bigger until the flame exploded from the liquid and engulfed them both. Wynonna didn’t scream in pain as the flames licked at her flesh, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. But Clyde’s eyes widened in fear as his clothes and body caught fire. He screamed, an unearthly sound, beating at himself as he tried to get the spreading flames off of him.

Wynonna coughed out a broken laugh as she watched, finally at peace as the flames consumed her body and the cabin was engulfed in flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  [Come yell at me on Twitter if you're so inclined.](https://twitter.com/bootsncatz)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF let me just say it has been a WEEK, am I right? *sinks slowly into a corner while weeping and eating a roll of cookie dough like a burrito*
> 
> This chapter was CATHARTIC to write and I think you'll see why towards the end. Thank you everyone for sticking with me while I tried something new in writing a pulpy horror thing. I appreciate ya'll. 
> 
> Thank you to Lucky for beta-ing and telling me when things were too gross.

As Wynonna and Rosita walked towards the main cabin, Waverly quickly wiped at the tear stains on her cheeks. She was sure they were going to die when Clyde’s feet circled the car they were hiding under. She had to bite her tongue and cover her own mouth to keep the screams in, just to give them a _chance_.

Waverly hugged Wynonna’s jacket tighter around her shoulders and pressed her face into Nicole’s chest as her sister and Rosita got further away. 

Nicole smelled like vanilla, just like she ( _No, they,_ Waverly chastised herself) always did, but under it was the sharp musk of sweat and cheap beer. Still it made Waverly’s heart melt into a puddle of comfort, even ever so brief. They wrapped their arms around Waverly’s frame and kissed the side of her head, and she felt a fresh wave of tears choking her throat at the tenderness. 

_Balls_ Waverly was such a mess. It felt like she hadn’t stopped crying since they found Mercedes and Beth. Her eyes were swollen painfully and her face hot, and she was so dehydrated she was sure she couldn’t even cry anymore. And now Nicole - Nicole who was supposed to be the strong one and had always been a rock for Waverly - to see them breakdown the way they did threw Waverly off her axis.

It was selfish, but Waverly couldn’t help the twinge of disappointment that she didn’t have her rock, her safety. She could see the battle going on behind Nicole’s eyes, the clouds that weren’t there even just a few minutes earlier.

“It’ll be fine, baby,” Nicole whispered. “I just have to keep the look out for Wynonna and Rosita. Can you help me?”

Waverly sniffled, subtly wiping her nose off on Nicole’s shirt and turning back around. “Yeah, I can help. What are we going to do if we see him?”

Nicole crossed their arms on top of the cruiser, scanning the area carefully. “Well, I’m not sure. But I guess... distract him away from the cabin long enough so they can get the keys.”

“What if he comes after us?” Waverly asked softly, eyes barely clearing the top of the cruiser to scan the area with Nicole. 

Nicole was quiet for a moment, their warm brown eyes thoughtful as they looked out at the camp. A pink tongue wet their lips and Waverly found herself distracted for a moment before Nicole turned on her seriously. “Then we run. We run for our lives.”

Suddenly Nicole’s eyes narrowed and Waverly whipped around. A chill ran up her spine when she saw Clyde emerging from the tree line beside the counselor cabins. Waverly felt sick just at the sight of him, his terrible sickle caked in blood and hanging at his side. He had killed three of Waverly’s friends and she wanted to kick him right in the balls for being such a shit ticket, but it would be a suicide mission.

“ _Balls_ , what now?” Waverly whispered.

“Let’s just see where he goes,” Nicole whispered back. They bent down and quickly picked up a rock near their feet, eyes still on Clyde. It looked like he was going towards the lake and the boat house, heavy feet dragging in the dirt under him and leaving tracks.

Waverly let out a heavy sigh as he seemed to turn away from the cabin. But then there was a metallic _snap_ and a blood curdling scream from the main office, and Waverly felt a new wave of sickness.

“Wynonna!” she yelled. Without thinking, she started towards the main cabin but felt arms wrap around her waist and drag her back behind the car. She struggled but Nicole whispered quietly in her ear.

“Waves, ssh ssh ssh, you have to stay here,” Nicole pleaded.

Waverly was acting only on instinct. Her sister had screamed, a long, painful, loud scream. She was in pain, she was in _danger_.

“Wynonna! I have to get to her!” Waverly struggled, pushing Nicole away by the chest. The only thing driving Waverly was fear and desperation. Her limbs lashed out at Nicole in her desperate need to get to Wynonna. Nicole struggled against her but managed to get Waverly’s wrists pinned at her sides, pressing their torso into hers against the car with their leg between Waverly’s thighs, effectively pinning her. 

“Waves, please stay here,” Nicole said, with a hard and desperate look in their eyes. “I need you to not run at a freaky serial killer. Okay? Please. We need to be smart about this or we’ll all get killed.”

Waverly blinked up at Nicole, a thrill of something other than fear running through her for just a brief second at the look in their eyes and the tense set of their jaw. She was helpless but to listen to them.

“I promise,” Waverly whispered.

Nicole’s eyes darted over Waverly’s face like they were trying to figure out if she was serious or not. Slowly, Nicole released her wrists and Waverly let out a long, labored breath, licking her lips as Nicole looked back out to where Clyde had shifted his focus to the main cabin.

Nicole picked up another rock off the ground and ran around the cruiser, throwing it at him hard. It tumbled in the dirt, distracting him for just a moment. His slow, terrifying gaze turned towards them and Nicole threw another rock.

With the distance, Waverly was surprised to see the second rock hit him square in the chest.

“Over here, dumbass!” Nicole yelled. They growled in frustration and said under their breath. “What is taking them so long?”

Waverly picked her own rocks up from the ground and started throwing them in his direction too. Anything to distract him long enough to get Wynonna and Rosita out of the cabin. She didn’t know what they would do if they successfully got Clyde away from the main cabin, but she was going to trust that Nicole would keep them safe. Keep _everyone_ safe.

Despite the barrage of rocks, Clyde only seemed interested in them for a moment before lumbering back towards the main cabin.

“Fuck _fuck_ , Niocle whispered, dropping the rock in their hand and cupping their mouth instead as they yelled. “Wy! Rosita! Get out!”

Waverly watched, frozen in horror, as Clyde stomped his way towards the cabin. Each second ticked on and felt like a knife slowly slowly sticking itself into her gut. 

“What’s taking them so long?” Waverly said, hands gripping Nicole’s forearm tightly in an attempt to keep herself grounded.

Suddenly she saw the side window to the cabin fly open and half of Rosita’s body lean out of it. Waverly’s heart fluttered with hope, holding back a yell of happiness as Rosita tumbled out of the cabin window just as Clyde slammed into the door. She waited with bated breath for Wynonna to appear after her, watching as Rosita picked herself up from the ground and ran back towards them. The dirt kicked up behind her as she ran, and Waverly just kept her eyes pinned on the window she had emerged from. 

“Where’s Wynonna?” Waverly breathed, unable to move. “Why is she taking so long? _Nicole_ -”

Rosita made it to them, falling right into Nicole’s arms and pulling them both down to their knees. The keys shined in Rosita’s tightly closed fist against Nicole’s back, her petite body wracking with a sob.

Waverly was still in shock, dread seeping into her blood and making her feel sick as she stared at the window helplessly. 

“Rosie, where’s Wynonna?” Waverly said.

Rosita let out another broken sob and Waverly looked back at the cabin just as-

_Boom!_

The cabin exploded in flames, blowing out the windows as flames greedily consumed the fresh oxygen outside. Dark smoke curled out of the cabin and reached up towards the night sky and Waverly felt her heart twist painfully in her chest.

_“Wynonna!”_ she screamed with every ounce of oxygen left in her lungs, tears immediately clouding her vision. Her legs moved to run towards the cabin once more but Nicole held her back. “Let. Me. _Go!_ ” she yelled, trying to pull away from the arms around her. But she was lifted into the air and even beating on Nicole’s arms with her fists couldn’t loosen their grip. 

“Ssh, baby, baby, come on,” came a soft voice in her ear. Waverly could hardly hear it over her own screams towards the burning cabin. She thrashed in her pain, her need to act and save her sister slowly slowly ebbing away when she realized that there was no hope. Suddenly her chest felt hollow, but only for a minute before it flooded with a numbing pain again. 

But she couldn’t give up so easily. It was Wynonna they were talking about, after all. 

Furiously she wiped at the tears on her cheeks. She looked at Rosita who was pale and shaking, clearly in shock. 

“We have to go get her,” Waverly said, looking back at the cabin that was engulfed in flames. 

“Waves, there’s no way-” Nicole started, but Waverly interrupted.

“We don’t know! She could have crawled out, found her way under something. Or, or or-”

“She was caught in a bear trap,” Rosita said flatly. 

All eyes turned to where she was slumped against the cop car in some attempt to keep herself upright. 

She shook her head slowly, speaking through hiccups. “Her leg was stuck in a bear trap. She couldn’t move, that’s why-”

Rosita looked down at her feet, struggling to take in a breath as the tears wracked her body. Waverly’s last hope ebbed from her body and she wrapped her arms around Rosita. They collapsed into each other, holding to one another desperately. Rosita sobbed in Waverly’s arms, and she cried too.

She sobbed with every raw nerve. The compounded grief of the day had finally taken over, flooding her body and making everything _hurt_. The smell of fire and burning wood was overpowering, and there was another smell under it that itched at Waverly’s nose. When she realized she was smelling burned flesh and hair her stomach roiled. 

She scrambled out of Rosita’s arms, kneeling just as her stomach revolted against her. The meager contents splashed into the dirt but her body continued to wretch. She felt like one giant contracting muscle trying to rid herself of the grief until all that was left was bile. Gentle hands pulled her hair away from her face and she sniffled, finally sitting back on her haunches. Her entire body was exhausted.

“Come on, baby, we have to get up,” Nicole said softly. 

Waverly nodded, wiping at the tear tracks and snot on her face. Her hands were shaking and her entire face was hot and swollen. Nicole placed a soft kiss on her forehead and Waverly looked up at them finally. Their eyes were red and swollen, nose red and it hit Waverly that she wasn’t grieving alone.

“Nic,” Waverly threw her arms around Nicole’s neck and buried her face in their neck.

“I know, baby,” Nicole whispered brokenly, kissing the top of Waverly’s head. “But we have to go. And the cruiser is on empty.”

“Fuck,” Rosita said.

Waverly took one last long breath and pressed a kiss to the base of Nicole’s neck, pulling away with the salty taste of sweat and tears against her lips. She looked down and realized she was still in Wynonna’s jacket that she had thrown at her. Hugging it tighter around herself, she looked over at the cabin that was completely engulfed in flames. The fire had caught onto the forest behind it, the crackling of the burning wood piercing the air. 

“What’s wrong?” Waverly managed through her raw vocal cords.

“We have to find gas,” Nicole said, their eyes darting nervously to the fire every few seconds. “There are some old motorboats over there, I’m hoping there’s some gasoline around the boat house. It might be dried up or old but-”

“It might be the only chance we have,” Rosita said. Waverly saw defeat and sadness in her eyes too. “That guy _has_ to be dead though. Right?”

They all looked over at the cabin just as the roof collapsed in on itself.

“No one could survive that,” Nicole said glumly. It just made Waverly’s heart twist in her chest.

“Let’s go to the boat house, then,” Rosita said.

They walked along the edge of the lake towards the boat house they’d spotted, was past the counselor cabins and more in front of the camper’s cabins. Nicole held tightly onto Waverly’s hand as they walked in silence, no sounds except for the occasional sniffle from one of the three. 

They passed the spot where Waverly and Nicole had gone skinny dipping. It was only just a few hours before, but Waverly was sure it had been a lifetime ago. This night had been a terrible mess of emotions, some good, a lot bad. Waverly just wanted to curl up with Nicole and sleep. Now that the immediate danger was gone, the adrenaline that had been keeping her alert was slowly ebbing her away, just leaving her an exhausted grieving shell. 

When they got to the boat house, Nicole let go of Waverly’s hand and stepped in front of her as they took their knife out of their pocket. The boat house was small, no windows in the wooden structure. Nicole pushed open the door quickly and stepped inside, taking a look around before their shoulders relaxed. 

“It’s safe.”

The rest of them stepped into the small, dark room, squinting in the low light. There were a couple of kayaks stacked in the corner and on the opposite side some sports equipment. Nicole went right for a metal gas can in the corner. They shook it, a hollow sloshing hitting the side of the can. Nicole unscrewed the lid and sniffed, wrinkling their nose as they peered inside. 

“It’s not much but it’s something,” they mumbled before picking up a rolled up hose in the corner. They lifted it onto their shoulder and paused, looking at the sports equipment. They selected a metal baseball bat, hefting it in their hand and shrugging. “Just in case, they said as they left the cabin, Waverly following behind like a lost puppy.

She felt useless, floating through her grief like a fog.

Nicole went over to the edge of the lake where there were some old motorboats stuck in the sand. They opened the gas tanks and sniffed, seeming satisfied before setting down the can and using their knife to cut the hose down to a reasonable size. Waverly sat on the edge of the dock, Rosita sitting down beside her as they watched Nicole start siphoning whatever gas was left in the tanks.

“What a night,” Rosita said flatly. 

The statement was so ridiculous that Waverly couldn’t hold out the bark of a laugh. The sound felt foreign, hanging in the air like a rude comment between them. Waverly shook her head.

“What a night indeed,” Waverly agreed. “Understatement of the year.”

Silence settled over them again for a moment before Rosita spoke up again.

“Waves,” she said with a break in her voice. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Waverly shook her head, physically unable to cry anymore. “There’s nothing to say,” Waverly said. She wanted to know how Wynonna-

She swallowed thickly, painfully.

Waverly wanted to know, even if the giant fire currently making its way through the forest was a huge clue, but not right now. Later. Her heart couldn’t handle the details right now, not when the details didn’t change the end result.

“She wanted me to tell you that she loved you,” Rosita said, putting her hand over Waverly’s. “She loved you more than anything.”

“I know,” Waverly managed, stuffing her hands into the pockets of Wynonna’s jacket. Her fingers brushed something hard and hope sparked for a moment she dug into the inside pocket, only to pull out her flask. Waverly chuckled, looking up at Rosita with a small smile. 

“I thought it might be a gun.” She tipped the flask towards her and Rosita just answered with a nod.

“To Wynonna,” Waverly said as she unscrewed the flask and took a sip without even thinking. The sharp taste of whiskey washed away the taste of bile on her tongue and warmed her empty stomach. She handed the flask to Rosita.

“To Wynonna,” Rosita said sadly to the flask before taking her own sip. 

“To Wynonna,” Nicole said, lifting up the end of the hose before putting their mouth on it. Waverly watched, slightly amused, as Nicole’s face wrinkled in disgust and they quickly pulled the hose from their mouth and stuck the end in the gas can. They sputtered and wiped their mouth off on their shirt.

“Here, have some of this,” Rosita held out the flask and Nicole walked over, taking a quick sip before going back to the can.

Waverly and Rosita passed the flask in silence for a few moments before Waverly looked off towards the cabins. The fire was slowly creeping along the tree line and she could see Nicole getting uncomfortable with every passing second. Waverly realized what the worry was about, why there was that fear lingering in Nicole. She’d seen it when they found the Shelterlands Music Festival sign. 

Nicole pulled the hose from the can and shook it again. “Alright. I think this will be good enough to get us out of the forest,” they said.

“Let’s get the rest of our stuff from that cabin before it bursts into flames,” Rosita said, nodding her head towards the cabin they had been in earlier in the night when it seemed things were just going to be mildly inconvenient and not the bloodbath it turned into. 

Nicole nodded, eyes fixed on how the main cabin’s fire was still going strongly, trees behind it having long caught flame. The fire inched closer and closer to the counselor cabin and once that went up, it was only a matter of time until it got the campers’ quarters where their stuff was.

“Let’s go,” Waverly said. She laced her fingers with Nicole’s and put the flask back in Wynonna’s jacket pocket. They all headed quickly back to the cabins, not speaking as they went. Waverly felt Nicole’s hand get sweaty the closer they got to the line of the fire. She felt their hands twitch and body stiffen with each step. Waverly pulled their arm across her chest and kissed their shoulder. “We’ll be fast.”

Nicole nodded, determined, as they went into the cabin.

Waverly barely stepped inside before she was overcome with a sense of nausea. Everything looked like it had before they headed back down the road. Abandoned cooler in the corner...Wynonna’s duffle bag on the bed like she was still coming back for it. Waverly shook her head.

“I um-...I’m going to wait outside,” Waverly said, hand behind her and groping for the door handle. 

Nicole looked up from where they were stuffing things into their duffle bag, their brown eyes wide. “Wha-”

“Babe, it’s okay,” Waverly said with a weak smile. She just had to get out of the cabin. “I’ll just be right outside, okay? I just need a second. Alone.”

“Okay,” Nicole said softly. They quickly walked over to Waverly and kissed her forehead while slipping their knife into their hand. “Be careful.”

“I know,” Waverly gave them another quick smile before slipping out of the cabin. She took a deep breath, coughing a little as the smoke got closer. She looked up at the sky, watching as the smoke filled the sky and almost covered the moon. Still, there were no sirens or helicopters or anything she would expect in a situation where a forest fire was starting. It felt like they were stuck in some kind of odd pocket where only bad things happened. A cursed land. Maybe it was.

Waverly leaned against the cabin wall, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. They would be out of this soon. Just a few more minutes and this nightmare would be behind them. 

Waverly’s nose tingled and she rubbed at it. Something smelled...off. Sour.

Suddenly, the hairs rose on the back of Waverly’s neck and she frowned, reaching for the knife slowly. But it was too late. 

Her scream was cut off by a hand closing over her mouth and an arm around her, pulling her back and away from the cabin into the night.

***

Nicole watched as Waverly quickly ducked out of the cabin. Their heart ached, soaked in their own sadness but also wanting to comfort Waverly. They wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but they had to focus. They had to keep Waverly safe, the last thing they promised Wynonna.

Nicole’s heart felt like it was being crushed in their chest, at the mere thought of their best friend.

With a sigh, Nicole went back to gathering their stuff. They went over to the bed they had been sitting on with Waverly earlier, Waverly’s sweater stuffed into the corner. Nicole leaned across and reached for it but it fell between the bed and the wall. Would anything about this night be easy? Sighing in frustration, Nicole flattened themself to the floor to reach for it, fingers just barely grazing it. 

They moved to the end of the bed and went to pull it away when they noticed deep scratch marks in the wood under the bed like it had been moved before. The floor was just a bit cleaner in that area and Nicole frowned.

They pulled at the bed and saw a cut out behind it in the wall, no more than two feet across and one foot tall. A hidden door that would have been invisible if they hadn’t moved the bed.

“Uh, Rosita,” Nicole said, quickly throwing Waverly’s sweater towards their bags. “I found something weird.”

They pushed on the door and it opened a little, creaking with disuse. Nicole fully pushed open the door, and a wave of stench that smelled like death hit their nostrils. They crinkled their nose and gazed into the dark passage as Rosita came up behind them.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said. They took their phone from their pocket and turned on the light, shining it into the space. It was only a couple of feet wide, but tall enough for an adult to stand in the space. Nicole felt a chill run up their spine and they quickly crawled in the rest of the way. 

They could hardly believe what they saw.

There was a pentagram drawn on the floor in what looked like blood, burned down candles on each corner of it. A dead racoon lay in the middle of the pentagram like a sacrifice, its guts spread out around it in some sort of pattern Nicole didn’t want to figure out. Bloody handprints were all over what appeared to be hundreds of newspaper clippings plastered on the wall. There were some about the Shelterlands fire, some about the upcoming Pride festival in town they’d been on the way to, as well as other articles about hate crimes that had happened in the area, all ranging back decades. The most chilling thing was Clyde’s picture, big and dominating the main wall. But in the picture, he wasn’t as pale, eyes not as bulging, just proving Nicole’s theory, no matter how crazy, that he was somehow dead come back to life.

“What the _fuck_?” Rosita said as she crawled into the space. 

Under Clyde’s picture... pictures of...well, of all of them. There was Waverly with her sash saying “Nicest Person in Purgatory”, one of Wynonna’s mugshots, the picture of Nicole from the auto shop website, and a picture of Rosita that looked like a surveillance photo taken from a distance. There were even pictures of Champ, Mercedes and Beth, all pinned to the wall with blood dripping from them and symbols drawn along their edges.

“This!” Rosita picked a book up off the floor and held it towards Nicole. “This is the book Wynonna found! But it was in the main cabin!”

Rosita flipped through it, pointing at one of the pages. “This is the spell she read,” she ran her fingers almost reverently over the page. “Stupid, fantastic idiot.” She flipped to the next page and froze.

“What?” Nicole breathed. “ _What_?”

Rosita looked back at the display on the ground and back up at Nicole. “I think it’s a resurrection spell.”

“Resurrection?” Nicole said. “Like someone _purposefully_ brought Clyde back?”

“Yeah,” Rosita said, pointing towards the pictures. “And they brought them back specifically to kill us. But where are they n—”

Suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of Waverly’s scream cut short and Nicole’s blood ran totally cold.

“ _Waverly!_ ”

They quickly made her way out of the room, grabbing the baseball bat off the bed and running blindly out of the cabin.

“Waverly!” they yelled to the night. 

Rosita burst out of the cabin behind them. “What do we do?”

“Nicole!” came Waverly’s voice from far away.

Nicole held the bat in both of her hands, heart in her throat. “Rosie, get the gas and get the car. I’m going to go get Waverly. If I’m not out with her in ten minutes, leave without us.”

“But-”

“If it takes that long, it’s already too late,” Nicole said seriously, turning to look at Rosita. “Someone has to make it.”

“The final girl,” Rosita said. “Well, the final _them_.”

Nicole couldn’t help the small smile that tilted her lips. “The final them.” Waverly screamed again, her voice coming from the counselor cabins, and Nicole focused again. 

“I’ll see you in ten, Haught,” Rosita said before going back into the cabin for the gas can.

Nicole ran in the direction of Waverly’s scream, blood pumping and all fear in their body gone, replaced with anger and a thirst for vengeance. They felt the fire getting hotter and hotter as they basically ran right into the growing fire. If Rosita was right, the threat was just a human, not the big scary undead monster Wynonna had burned in the fire. Nicole could handle humans. 

“Nic!”

Nicole ran faster, pinpointing her voice to the counselor cabin that they had found Champ in. The fire had jumped from the main cabin and had caught the counselor cabin on fire. The roof was lit in flames, the sides burning. The heat was almost unbearable just from standing outside of it. Nicole felt their hands slipping on the bat, heart beating so quickly it was practically vibrating. They could smell their uncle’s burning flesh, they kept seeing the way the flesh melted off his bones. The _smell_.

They willed their feet to move but it was like they were stuck to the ground, frozen by the wall of flames in front of them.

“Nicole!” Waverly yelled again.

Nicole kicked into action.

They pushed past their fears, taking a final deep breath before running into the cabin. They were immediately overcome by smoke, coughing and pulling their shirt up over their nose in some vague attempt at helping their lungs. Their eyes watered and they looked around the room but all they could see were flames.

“Nic!”

Nicole’s eyes focused and they saw Waverly at the other end of the cabin, a knife at her throat and a tall, lanky figure behind her with their arm around her waist. They blinked and recognized the figure immediately. 

“Tucker,” they spit out. His glasses were smudged and dirty, blood on his face, and lips pulled back in a grimace. He had a smug look on his face as he looked at Nicole. They ran towards him, baseball bat at the ready, but a piece of the roof fell and Nicole skidded to a stop. They fell back, throwing an arm over their face to block themselves from the wall of flames that rose in front of them.

Tucker let out a sick laugh and Nicole quickly sprang to their feet. Waverly looked at Nicole with wide eyes, neck stretched and trying to keep it away from the sharp blade at her throat. 

“You let her go right now, you fucking rat,” Nic growled. Their eyes kept darting over to the flames slowly surrounding them. The way that they got closer and closer, making their animal instincts scream at them to _flee_.

“Why would I do that?” Tucker said, tilting his head a little. “I got both of you girls right where I want you.”

“Let her go, Tucker,” Nicole said. _Girls_ echoed in their mind, but they pushed it away. “If you let her go we can all get out of here alive-”

“Why? So you lesbos can tell on me and I’ll go to prison?” he scoffed. “If I go down, you’re all going down with me.”

“Why did you do this, Tucker?” Nicole asked.

Tucker’s face twisted into a snarl and he spit off to the side. Nicole saw from across the cabin how the knife dented Waverly’s skin and they adjusted their grip on the baseball bat.

“I just needed to get rid of my fucking sisters,” he hissed. “I just needed them out of the way to get control of the Gardner fortune.” Tucker’s lips curled into a smile. “It was just a bonus I got you homo sickos along with it.”

Nicole’s blood boiled. They could practically feel the flames on their skin, burning the hair off their arms and making them sweat through their shirt. They wanted to rush Tucker, to bash him with the bat and get Waverly out of his arms. But they were stuck in place by the flames.

“Let Waverly _go_ ,” Nicole said. “I’m warning you.”

Tucker laughed and the sound bounced around in Nicole’s skull, making them shiver.

“What do you think you’re going to do?” Tucker said. “You’re just a little _girl_.”

Nicole said lowly. “Stop.”

“A scared _lonely_ little girl.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“A scared, pathetic, sick little _girl_.”

Nic saw blood start to leak onto the edge of the knife and the fear in Waverly’s eyes. And still the world _girl_ reverberated between Nicole’s ears.

Something in Nicole’s brain snapped. 

Gripping the bat almost painfully in their hands, Nicole yelled out like some kind of warrior as they ran and leapt through the flames. Tucker’s eyes got wide in shock as they burst through the other side of the flames, bat raised between their fists and a wild look in their eyes.

Waverly saw her chance and elbowed him in the groin, causing him to bend over in pain and loosen his hold on her. She pushed out of his arms just as Nicole made it to him, swinging their bat and hitting him in the shoulder. He fell over on his side, the knife skittering away from him as he yelled out in pain. 

Nicole could only see red.

They raised their bat again and brought it down on his stomach. 

“I’m not-!” 

They swung again as he tried to get up, hitting him in the chin and throwing his head back with a _crack_.

“-a-!”

Nicole raised the bat over their head and yelled as they brought it down on his skull.

“ _-girl!”_

There was another sickening crack and his glasses shattered on his face. He turned onto his back, sputtering blood as he groaned. Nicole brought the bat down on his skull again and blood began to pour from his ears. They couldn’t stop. All the anger and adrenaline from the day flowed through their arms and into the bat as they beat the shit out of him. Pictures of Mercedes, Beth and Wynonna flashed in front of their eyes. Hell, even Champ. No one deserved to die like this. For such a useless fucking reason. 

But Tucker. Tucker deserved to suffer.

The bat fell down on him, again and again and again until his skull was just a splattered mess of blood and bone. Nicole would have kept beating his face until it became one with the floor, if Waverly hadn’t stepped in front of them, hands coming up to cup their face.

“Hey hey hey,” Waverly said softly. 

Nicole’s eyes focused on her, their chest rising and falling with each harsh breath that left their lungs.

“Waverly.”

“It’s okay,” Waverly whispered. “It’s fine. I’m fine. We’re fine. Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Nicole dropped the bat at their feet and they nodded, shifting their focus. The heat was nearly unbearable and Nicole knew they had to get out _now_.

“Let’s go,” Nicole said, grabbing Waverly’s hand and pulling the both of them back out of the cabin, pushing through the door with their eyes streaming, just as the rest of the roof caved down. They both took a moment to look at the cabin, filling their lungs with cleaner air as they panted. Nicole turned and pulled Waverly into their arms, wanting to feel her against themself, and just know that they were okay...they were both _safe_.

There was the _whoop_ of a siren and they looked up to see the cruiser coming to a stop in front of them. Rosita stuck her head out of the driver’s side window and gestured towards them.

“Come on! Let’s go!” 

They ran to the car, Nicole getting in the passenger side of the car first and Waverly piling in on top of her. The door wasn’t even closed before Rosita floored the gas pedal. The tires spun in the dirt for a moment, the back of the car fishtailing before the car surged forward. Rosita flipped a U-turn and drove towards the path that had brought them to this hellish place. 

They turned and drove down the path, flaming trees on either side whipping and scratching against the cruiser. They sat in silence until they broke through the end of the fire line, all three of them panting like they’d just run a marathon. As they finally made it out onto The Last Road again, Waverly finally broke.

It started off as a small giggle and she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. But the sound started a chain and Nicole started chuckling until Waverly dissolved into giggles again. Soon Rosita was joining along, laughing along with the other two until all three of them were in full blown belly laughs. Tears rolled down their eyes and Nicole’s stomach ached, but they couldn’t stop laughing, the hysteria overtaking them all. 

Finally the laughter died down and Rosita rolled down her window.

“Fuck!” she yelled to the night.

Waverly adjusted herself on Nicole’s lap and they wrapped their arms around her body.

“Let’s go home,” Nicole whispered. Waverly nodded in their neck, and they drove on into the night.

***

_One Year Later_

“Nicoooooole,” Waverly’s voice sing songed through the garage and Nicole turned their head to try and get a glimpse of their girlfriend from underneath the car they were currently working on. They saw her pumps, the ones she wore for special occasions or when she was trying to seduce Nicole for whatever reason. Nicole’s ears practically perked in interest as they rolled out from under the car with a smirk on their face.

“Hey, baby,” Nicole said, sitting up on the board and adjusting the backwards cap on their head. 

Waverly was wearing a high waisted skirt and a sheer black top that Nicole’s eyes were immediately drawn to. They couldn’t help it, Waverly was the most beautiful woman they’d ever seen. Beautiful, and unbelievably hot.

Waverly noticed their eyes and smirked, pushing lightly on the board Nicole was sitting on with her foot and rolling it back and forth.

“My eyes are up here,” Waverly joked.

Nicole stood up, taking a rag out of the back pocket of their steel blue coveralls and wiping the grease off their hands as best they could. Waverly’s eyes darted down to where Nicole’s coveralls were unzipped below their belly button, ribbed white tank top visible underneath. 

“My eyes are up here,” Nicole teased. 

Waverly blushed and walked up to Nicole, pressing her torso lightly into theirs. “You know what your work outfit does to me.”

Waverly’s fingers traced the patch with Nicole’s name on it that was over their chest. She had stitched a little “they/them” under the patch with red thread for Nicole when they were ready to use their proper pronouns at work. There were a few hiccups at first and there were always going to be narrow minded people coming in, but Nicole still felt free. They felt free and happy and just… _themself_. It was weird thinking that they’d gone their entire life not feeling like themself, but they were thrilled to finally be happy in their own body. Comfortable. 

They adjusted the binder where it folded over a bit under their ribs before holding their hands behind their back.

“I can’t touch you, I’m all dirty,” Nicole said, leaning down and giving Waverly a brief peck on the lips. 

“Well what if _I_ touched _you_?” Waverly smiled, slowly wrapping her arms around Nicole’s neck and pulling them down for a long, passionate kiss. Nicole hummed against her lips, insisting on keeping their hands away from Waverly’s clean clothes, but slowly walking her back until she was pressed against the car.

Waverly moaned at the feeling and Nicole slowly pulled away. 

“Why’d you stop?” Waverly complained, fingers brushing along the back of their neck. They felt it right between their legs and swallowed thickly.

“Remember that time we were caught having sex in the garage and I couldn’t look my boss in the eye for a month?”

Waverly blushed, pulling her lip between her teeth. “It was really sexy though. Before we got caught.”

“Yeah, it was,” Nicole admitted. They kissed Waverly again, pulling away quickly before she could deepen it again. They could recognize Waverly’s distraction techniques from a mile away and smiled down at her. “So. What brings you here? I thought I was meeting you at Shorty’s after work.”

Waverly’s face fell. “They’re um-. Well the memorial service moved to Shorty’s.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, it makes sense, Wynonna _loved_ Shorty’s,” Waverly chuckled. “Rosita is there now but…”

Waverly trailed off and Nicole gently kissed the high part of her cheeks. 

It had been a year since the disastrous trip down The Last Road. They got the authorities down to the camp but the body of Clyde was never found. Only Tucker’s burnt corpse along with the burned bodies of their friends. The authorities took everyone’s statements and the camp was destroyed, leaving nothing but ash behind. They just told them what happened, but really how do you tell the authorities that some homophobic jerk brought back a _nother_ homophobic jerk from the grave just to murder his sister and friends?

Thankfully the fire didn’t spread too far and it was contained in a day or so.

The funerals had been the hardest part. 

But a year later and a lot of therapy, and Nicole felt mostly normal. They felt happy. Sometimes they forgot that Wynonna was gone and would go to text her, only to fall into the deep hole of grief once more.

It was a process. But they were healing. Together.

With the Gardner fortune left without an heir, and with the horrible things that had happened, the money was offered to the three of them as a sort of penance. Mostly hush money to keep the Gardner name untainted because of the various charities that benefited from it, but they all decided on donating it instead.

So now, thanks to them, the Gardner house had been turned into the Gardner Spectrum Center for the LGBTQ+ community. Mercedes and Beth would have been happy and Tucker was probably rolling over in his grave. Just how they liked it.

The town was doing a memorial for who they now called the Shelterlands Forest Four, Wynonna, Mercedes, Beth and Champ, on the one year anniversary. Nicole and Waverly weren’t interested in attending. They wanted to just distract themselves.

Nicole glanced up at the clock on the wall and looked back at Waverly. “How about you sit your pretty little butt over there while I finish up this car and then we’ll get really gross fast food and go home and watch a movie. Huh?”

“That sounds great,” Waverly said, almost sounding relieved. Her fingers played with the open part of Nicole's coveralls and hazel eyes flickered up to brown. “Nicole.”

Nicole just hummed, mesmerized by the woman in front of her.

“I love you.”

Nicole blinked at her for a moment, unsure if they heard what they thought they heard. Their relationship had been going strong but they never said ‘love’. Not that Nicole didn’t feel it or want to say it, but they also were letting Waverly set the pace.

Waverly blushed and started rambling. “I mean-. It’s okay if you don’t- I shouldn’t have-”

“I love you too,” Nicole said quickly, elated smile on their face and dimples popping. “I really, really love you, Waverly Earp.”

“You do?” Waverly asked.

“Of course I do,” Nicole chuckled. “I have for-” they let out a breath. “A long long time.”

Waverly beamed, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she threw her arms around Nicole’s neck. They laughed and kissed Waverly again, love and hope filling up their chest as they focused on the woman in front of them. They could practically feel themselves healing with every kiss, every touch. And they knew everything was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come yell at me on Twitter if you're so inclined.](https://twitter.com/bootsncatz)


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